Team Time
by Mirror and Image
Summary: Complete - This years kids are going to give Kakashi and the other seventh grade teachers a heck of a lot of trouble.
1. Week 0

**Team Time**  
Mirror and Image

* * *

**Author's Note**: While the names are (obviously) Japanese, and we'll be using the Jounin's first names with the suffix of -sensei, (Mr. Hatake just sounds too strange as apposed to Kakashi-sensei) this is an _American_ school. Anime can only tell us so much about Japanese schools, and frankly we know more about the American education system.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was late. But then, that was nothing new. He'd seen some other teachers at the donut shop, but his coffee had tasted so good that he lingered. As he pulled into the parking lot, he noticed that, once again, his parking space was taken. This, too, was nothing new. Other people had the illusion of importance by driving a different car every day. Kakashi held his illusion of importance by using a different parking space every day. Besides, he liked walking.

It was his third day at school, his first with the kids. The previous two days had of course been professional development. Both days he'd slept in (trouble adjusting to getting up early again, you understand) and had missed the morning sessions. The afternoon session of the first day had been a guest speaker to motivate the teachers into doing a good job this year, about using communication to enhance learning blah, blah, blah. Kakashi had spent the time reading his book. The second day's afternoon session was a departmental meeting, in which Kakashi again spent his time reading his book while seven other adults argued bitterly about the new national English standards being too demanding in coupling with the new NCLB AYP, let alone the state's standards.

He loved professional development days for that exact reason: the reading.

Parking under a tree, he breathed in the warm late summer air before walking across the parking lot to one of the school's side doors.

Opening the door opened a cacophony of unharmonious voices, all shouting. He'd managed to forget over the summer just how _loud_ middle school students were. His sigh was inaudible, however, and he navigated his way through the halls with practiced ease. The eighth graders occasionally waved and called his name, and he smiled blithely when he felt the situation called for it. The fifth graders, new to the building, were already lost and asking for directions, while an assorted collection of older students were running in and out of rooms - always directly in Kakashi's path, of course - in a chase or search of some other student. He was always disconcerted that kids who were half his age were for some reason taller than him. True, most were still only chest height, but an unnerving number of thirteen year olds towered over him. Backpacks were strewn everywhere. They were light because there were no books in them, but that would change by the end of next week.

Kakashi stepped over three sets of legs that were sticking out into the hall, students sitting on the floor giving excited and no doubt exaggerated stories of their summers and vacations and other adventures. Finally making his way to the seventh grade wing, Kakashi fiddled in his pocket for keys while he counted the number of backpacks cluttering his closed door. Five, no seven of assorted colors and sizes were dumped in front of it, proclaiming that his homeroom students had been there and were now lying in wait somewhere for him to open the door and let them in. He made a show of looking around conspiratorially before finally unlocking his door and opening it.

His timing was perfect (naturally) because the last student had finally set foot in the room when the final bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom and morning announcements.

"Good morning, Konoha Middle School." Kakashi did a quick headcount and compared the number on his attendance roster that he had put on his desk the previous day. The numbers matched, therefore everyone was present. He checked them off and logged into his computer to send it in while the old man kept talking.

"This is your principal, Sandaime Sarutobi, wanting to personally welcome you to a brand new year. There will be new opportunities, new experiences, new students, and new memories. This building is a haven for any and all students who want to learn; I earnestly hope you take what we have to offer. Have a good day and a good year."

"Hm, shorter than last year. He babbled for ten minutes that time," Kakashi muttered to himself.

"Everybody complained, that's why," a voice said from behind.

"Ah, good morning, Iruka-sensei."

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei. I just came to remind you that Team Time is the lunch period this year, and that we have a new science teacher: Kurenai-sensei. Since you weren't here for those announcements yesterday," he added in a flat tone.

Kakashi did what he did best: smile. "Shouldn't you be getting back to your homeroom?"

The tanned man shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Fine, fine, see you in Asuma's room later."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to team teach with me this year?"

Iruka grimaced. "No, I will be, but there are some last minute IEP changes that I haven't been informed of, so I'm spending most of today just figuring out which way's up. Today's just a 'get to know each other' day except for Asuma, so you won't need me anyway. Asuma can handle his pretesting without me, and I've got a sub in my room in case any need extra time and such."

Nodding, Kakashi rolled up a piece of paper and threw it at a student who was running around the room. Of course, it hit the student's head perfectly. "Okay students, I have a few things I want to say about how my homeroom operates."

* * *

Kakashi arrived in Asuma's room early for their team meeting. The first day of school was the _only_ day during the year when he'd be early because there was too much material to cover and not enough time. They were going to need Iruka's information about the IEPs right off the bat and Kakashi had a few things to say before the team meeting was handed over to Iruka.

"Hey, Kakashi," Asuma greeted. "I've got to run and make copies. All my class rosters were off and I need to make more pretests for the rest of the day."

"Better wait on that," Kakashi replied. "You can send a para out to make copies if you need to, but I have a few things I need to stay."

Asuma's smile faded as he put his papers down and pulled a seat over. "Good or bad?"

"Both. Naturally."

Asuma nodded as the door opened.

"Kakashi! It's good to see you've regained your youthful vigor and gotten here early!"

"Hello, Gai," Kakashi greeted with a casual shrug before eyeing the young woman by his side. "You must be our new science teacher, Kurenai. You'll forgive my not making your acquaintance over the past few days, I had been pulled into team leader meetings and getting a few briefs on things we didn't have enough information on to talk about at the usual opening procedures."

"Of course," she replied, pulling up a chair as well. Gai gave his usual sparkling smile as he took a chair.

"Sorry I'm late everyone!" The wondrous smell of Chinese food quickly permeated the room as Iruka came in with a paper bag. "I had a few minutes between meetings and ordered the usual for everyone. Kurenai," Iruka turned to his new colleague, "I didn't know what you'd like, so I just got some chicken rice and dumplings."

"Why, thank you," she replied, taking her container as Iruka passed them out.

"Now that we're all here," Kakashi started, opening his usual pork rice, "I have a few things to say. First, the good news. The ring was taken down over the summer."

Everyone but Kurenai heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Ring?" she asked.

"There was a ring of college-aged kids," Asuma explained, "who were picking up middle school girls and raping them. We had six girls on our team end up in counseling last year."

Kurenai's jaw dropped.

"If you have any preconceived notions about this part of town," Iruka murmured, "you'd better banish them. These kids have it rough."

"You said that was the good news, Kakashi," Gai turned to their team leader. "What's the bad?"

"Some of you have seen Uchiha Sasuke in class already today. His parents were killed in a car accident over the summer. His brother Itachi is currently his guardian."

"Itachi?" Asuma growled. "That jackass? Please tell me he's grown up since we had him."

"I wouldn't know," Kakashi replied. "I was privileged enough to miss his time here by a year."

"If Itachi is going to be raising Sasuke," Gai drawled, "we'll need to keep an eye on him. Not only will he be dealing with his parents' death, who knows how his brother has matured."

"If he has," Asuma snorted.

Kakashi glanced at the clock. "Iruka, I think you should have enough time to give us the basics. Save the details for tomorrow."

Iruka nodded. "First up, Uzumaki Naruto. Classic and severe ADHD. He's on meds so he should be okay during class. Mostly, he'll need extra time on assignments and for testing I'll probably pull him to my room.

"Akimichi Chouji is very low in his reading. I'll probably be having him for English and Reading. His spelling and handwriting are horrendous.

"Inuzuka Kiba has mild ADD. He'll need extra time on assignments and tests and will need some coaching in math.

"Kazekage Gaara is the one to watch. He has SED. I'm setting up a social contract and a point sheet. This is a kid you really don't want to pick a fight with.

"Nara Shikamaru is on the other end of the spectrum. He should be in a gifted program, but he's too lazy to do any work. Challenge him. A lot."

Iruka passed out packets on each of the students, listing others that had special needs. "These are their IEPs. Shikamaru requires daily emails to his parents, as does Ryoko and Takamaru."

"Any other observations from today's classes?" Kakashi asked.

"No students were as interested in my stories of history like Rock Lee was last year," Gai lamented.

"Everyone signed my social contract," Kurenai offered. Kakashi noted her use of the social contract. Other teachers had tried. It would be interesting to see if she could make it work.

"I never have anything to add," Asuma stated. "I'm pretesting so I can't offer anything."

"I've been running all over," Iruka replied, slumping back. "I can barely identify my students."

Kakashi smirked. "I picked out Naruto quickly enough. He's hyperactive to a fault. Beyond that, nothing outstanding." Kakashi had done his usual introduce-yourself discussion, asking students to list what they liked and what their goals and aspirations might be. As usual, most students had goals that were either far too grand or far too shortsighted, but they were only twelve. Some, like Haruno Sakura had had a specific and attainable dream to be a doctor. Others, like Kiba, had proclaimed something further out of reach such as being a basketball star. The knuckleheads stated that their dreams included working at McDonald's for the rest of their lives.

Kakashi smirked. When asked what his dreams and goals were, he had been evasive. The students were going to have to work to get information out of him, and as long as their work ethic was encouraged, Kakashi would love playing hard to get.

"Alright then," he smiled. "A few small things for our new member," he nodded to Kurenai. "Even though I'm team leader, we always meet here in Asuma's room. Every Friday is takeout since our plan is during the lunch wave this year. We don't allow backpacks in the classroom. We do a thing called A period Excellence, where the A period classes compete. Asuma can explain it better later. We also occasionally do a Homeroom Challenge to break things up for the kids and give them something to look forward to. Our original science teacher was in charge of planning fundraisers for all this. I'll be taking over that post this year, but I want you to help me out, because I tend to be overloaded as it is. Next year, we'll see if you're okay to take over the fundraising."

"Fine," Kurenai replied, a smile on her lips. "I did a little fundraiser work at the previous school I worked at."

"Speaking of which," Kakashi continued, "I know you worked at a private school previously. While hardly the upper echelon, you worked at a 'better' school than this. You've already heard a little of what can happen here in town. I'm stating flat out, the students here are going to be very different than what you worked with previously. They are poor. Some of them won't be able to afford a calculator. They won't have the money to replace anything they break. They're going to be putting up with shit at home that you never think actually happens. These kids need boundaries, love and support. But above all, boundaries. You don't give extra chances, you have to come down hard and fast. Otherwise, they'll walk all over you. Today may have gone well, but the honeymoon will end all too quickly."

Kurenai smiled. "I'll admit that I'm from a private school and that I'm still fresh out of college, but I don't think you need to worry."

"Kakashi didn't mean to imply that you'll be unprepared, Kurenai," Gai replied, "but that you should be aware that things could be very different than what you're used to."

"It'll be fine," Asuma interjected. "I'm right next door if she needs me."

"Good," Kakashi leaned back. "So, we have maybe five minutes before they come back from specials. How was your summer?"

* * *

The third day Kakashi was late. Lunch conversation was good. Genma was regaling the faculty lounge with his summer vacation gone horribly awry, leaving Kakashi terribly amused. He was more than happy to offer his own colorful commentary, and he was curious what the second lunch wave would say as they heard the last vestiges. He finally wandered back down the halls to Asuma's room, taking in the math posters, Algeblocks, Geoboards, and giant thermometer, among other things. The others were already assembled, and only Iruka bothered to look irritated at his being late. He smirked to himself; Kurenai would be assuming that look before long, and then she, too, would join in the understanding that he was always late.

"Any interesting gossip yet?" he asked.

"No, not really," Asuma answered. "I'm still hearing complaints from the kids about testing them on the first day of school." His face grew an evil smile. "One of the parents emailed me complaining. I told her I wanted to let the grade know on day one that I wanted to know what they knew, I wanted to be able to teach them to the best of my ability, and I wanted them to know that I don't quibble, I get right to the point. I said as much before I handed out the tests. She hasn't gotten back to me yet."

"They should have talked to the Hyuuga, or the Sasaki, or the Fuan. They all know the drill."

Kakashi took his seat and tilted it back into a perfect slouch. Iruka rolled his eyes but opened the team notebook. "Tsunade will be coming up at some point today," he said.

"Who?" Kurenai asked.

"The school nurse," Gai offered. "She makes the rounds every year to inform us of the fortitude of our youth."

"There are so many new faces and names, sometimes I feel like I'll never get the hang of them all," Kurenai lamented.

"It always takes a while," Iruka offered. "I take over a month to get all the other students names down, I'm so busy with mine. Kakashi has them all memorized in a day; I don't know how he does it."

"Practice," he replied, turning the page in his book.

"Will you ever put that filthy material away?" Iruka demanded.

"Not really."

The special education teacher seethed while Asuma and Gai laughed.

"Did I miss something?"

The five teachers looked up to see the blonde nurse of the middle school. "Ah, Tsunade, have a seat," Gai said, standing up and offering his seat. The nurse took it gladly. She turned to Kurenai.

"You're the new science teacher, right?" She nodded. "You have a lot of faces to get to know, if you can latch onto it, I'm the school nurse. There are a couple of yours that cling to me, like Haruno Sakura and a few others. What I'm here for, though, is to let you know about a few of them.

"First off is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm sure Iruka's passed on that he's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to the extreme. He's on medication that I keep in my office. He takes it twice a day, once in the morning before he comes here, once immediately after lunch. Lunch shouldn't be a problem because I've talked to the duty teachers and they make sure to point him to my office before the bell. The problem will be in the morning, because he has to take it before school in order for it to be in effect. I've been going through this since fifth grade; whether he takes it or not is dependant on the foster parents he has. The first ones were very good about it, but his current set want to have him be responsible for it. It's a nice thought, but he really isn't going to remember. They're reminding him for now, but that'll drift off as the year progresses. It happened last year.

"I get more than prescription students, though," she added, a sad look on her face. "This is a rough city, and some of the students are in really rough places. Do you know which student is Inuzuka Kiba?"

Kakashi raised his hand, as did Gai.

"I had a long conversation with his father yesterday. They're just barely getting by. He was evasive, but I think they're near the state of homelessness. Kiba may well be living out of his locker. Literally. He and a few others on Free and Reduced lunch, but we need to make sure that he's eating breakfast as well, that he's getting a shower during gym class, that sort of thing.

"There's also Uchiha Sasuke. I think you all know by now that his parents died over the summer. The social worker has him and Gaara and a few others in grief counseling, but he's going to have mood swings, and he's the type to keep it bottled up until he explodes. Gaara's the same way, and we still don't know everything that's up with him.

"You should also keep an eye on the couples. They're at the right age, and I'm sure that some of them are going to be pregnant before the year is out."

"But they're twelve!" Kurenai exclaimed.

"Yes, with one or if they're lucky two parents who are working double shifts to make ends meet; meaning that they're not home and no one's looking after them. I've seen it for years."

"I did say this was a rough school," Kakashi muttered, flipping a page in his book.

"Any others that we should know about?" Asuma said quickly.

"I think that about covers it. In the meantime, could you pass these out during homeroom tomorrow? I need to get their medical and insurance information for my files as soon as possible. They have a week to get them in, and then we start dogging them."

Kakashi smiled. "I hope a lot of them forget. I like dogging."

* * *

**Author's Note**: A few things. First, we don't like high school fics. So we thought we'd challenge ourselves and try to write a good one. So what happened? It ended up as a middle school fic.

Second, this story will only be done from the point of view of the teachers. Sometimes the best way to look at a relationship is from the outside instead of the inside. As adults, Kakashi-tachi can see things that the kids can't. Plus, it puts a bit of a different perspective on the twelve-year-olds having a relationship and how "innocent" (read: childlike) it really is. These kids aren't declaring never-ending love.

Third, over the course of this story, we will try to avoid stating any overt couples, but bear in mind you might see a few pairings appear briefly out of left field. At this age, students "hook up" and "break up" quite quickly. Besides, these kids are twelve.

Finally, all events that occur in this story have been witnessed in some way shape or form, by us. Mirror really did work at a school were there was a "ring" that picked up middle school girls. Image really was at a school where a student had a relative who died over the summer. The other plot devices that you'll be seeing will probably shock you or make you say, "That doesn't happen in school." Yes, in poor schools it does. We're not even going to get into the situation where a student that Mirror taught went home every Thursday to get raped by her father. However, we will _not_ do what other authors do and dive into the whole drama of it. We're coming from the teacher's perspectives, not the students, and you'll get a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes that teachers try to do to support their students. (We teachers do more than you think...) A lot of this will be understated as a result.

Oh, and yes, you'll see the occasional original character from time to time. They'll just be names in passing.

So, we tried to set up a lot of threads in this one little chapter. It's hard with the first (few) chapter(s) to be eye-grabbing. How'd we do? Do you still want to see more?

**A Few Useful Definitions:**

Since this is a school story from the teacher's point of view, you'll see a lot of the educational jargon that teachers can spit out when in conversation with one another.

**PPT**: Planning and Placement Team. Whenever a student has special needs, an IEP is created. (See below). A PPT is the meeting on how the student is doing with their IEP goals, and a chance for parents, teachers, and other interseted parties in how the student is doing to meet and discuss things. Concerns about grades, other classmates, classes, and just about anything under the sun can be brought up and modifications to the IEP can be made to accomodate any agreement made between parents and teachers. Manditory attendees are: A parent, a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, a special education coordinator. Optional attendees include: principal, vice principal, guidance counselor, social worker, therapist, parole officers, oh, and the kid too.

**IEP**: Individualized Education Plan. When a student is diagnosed as special education (for anything from pregnancy to broken legs, to learning or physical disabilities), a plan is drafted by teachers, parents and professionals on what would be appropriate goals for the student to be able to make over the course of the school year. Almost EVERYTHING that deals with special education is required by law.

**SED**: Socially and Emotionally Disturbed. These are special education students who have SERIOUS issues. They are often put into isolated classrooms, despite how smart they are, because these are the students who CAN NOT interact well with others. These kids will have major behavioral issues, attitudes, and could pose a danger to their fellow students, depending on how disturbed they are.

**ADHD**: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is a subcategory. These are students, usually boys, who have real difficulty with paying attention. Their focus wanders frequently and they can't stay on topic. The hyperactivity half of the disorder is extreme excess energy. These are students who couldn't sit perfectly still if their life depended on it.

**504**: Part of the educational law. This is Section 504 of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that states that there are students who have special needs that aren't necessarily permanent. Pregnancy and broken limbs usually fall under this category. When a student is classified as 504, they usually need temporary adjustments to school, such as time at the end of class to leave and get to their next class with a broken foot, or maybe medication if they have an illness that's being treated, etc.

**LD**: Learning Disabilities. ADHD is part of it, there's also dyslexia, dyscalculia, and a whole host of other things. Basically, it's when a student has trouble with an aspect of learning.

**Duties**: Teachers have various duties that they may have to do during their free time. The most common that students probably know of is lunch duty or hall duty. There can also be morning duty, bus duty, ISS duty, and a whole bunch of other responsibilities that get farmed out to teachers.

**Curriculum**: This is a bible that teachers use. It starts with national standards on what kids should learn when, is refined with state standards (that should but may not necessarily line up with national standards). Teacher's lesson plans need to line up with these standards. When you think of teaching, you might think of lesson plans, but curriculum is sort of the year-long lesson plan of what gets teached when.

**Vertical Curriculum Meetings**: This isn't something that happens in a lot of school districts, in fact, it's only happened in one that we've ever been in. A vertical curriculum meeting is when both high school, middle school, and possibly even elementary school meet in regards to curriculum and how it should be taught. For example, the math teachers of the high school could come down to the middle school to talk about concerns they may haveabout the kids not having a good grasp of solving equations and together, all the teachers can brainstorm how to better set up the curriculum to make more students learn.

**NCLB**: No Child Left Behind. I will not get into personal opinion in regards to this law. It was set forth by George W. Bush and basically states that EVERY single child across the country will be able to make certain standards, or at least, that's what we're striving for.

**AYP**: Adequate Yearly Progress. How much progress we need to make each year as a school to maintain accredidation (ie, what keeps the school doors open).

**Plan**: By contract, teachers get one free period a day in order to plan out lessons, make copies, and basically prepare for their classes.

**Team Time**: No, no, not the title of our story. In the middle school setting, there is often a team set up, a set of teachers from each subject working together with the same bunch of students. As such, by contract, teachers have another plan, only this time with the other teachers of their team to discuss concerns about students, plan activities, and lots of other things you'll see Kakashi-tachi doing over the course of this story.


	2. Week 1

**September: Week One**

* * *

Handing out books was always a pain. The book numbering never made sense, and he always had a predilection for giving certain books to certain students, meaning he would have to dig for them while looking like it was all deliberate in the meantime. One of these days he was just going to organize the books beforehand.

Wait, that would mean getting to school early. Never mind. Kakashi sighed at the very idea of ruining his laid-back, lackadaisical image. He glanced through the remaining stack of books for his next set of classes and admitted defeat. He shut the lights off in his room and went around the corner to Asuma's room.

"You're late!" Iruka growled.

"Sorry, I was busy pondering the meaning of life. I almost had it and then Naruto ran down the hall at full tilt." Kakashi took his seat and leaned back before noticing that he had forgotten his book. Damn! He frowned mournfully.

"Can that boy possibly be any louder?" Kurenai asked. "It's like he has to shout everything."

"He does set your teeth on edge," Asuma agreed.

Iruka shrugged his shoulders. "It's the only way he thinks he can be heard; he's patently ignored by the rest of his grade and his foster parents change almost yearly. It's to be expected. That reminds me, since this is the beginning of the year there's going to be a slew of PPTs. I've been scheduling them for about two weeks from now; that gives the kids a chance to get settled, us to know their faces, and it gives the parents enough time to rearrange their schedules. A lot of them I'm trying to schedule either during team time or during C period, since most of us have prep then." He looked up after marking it in the notebook. "Do you want to draw lots as to who goes to whose?"

"Ask me again next week," Asuma said, "I should know all their faces by then."

"Also, there's a union meeting after school today," Kakashi said, staring at the ceiling. "Who's going to that?"

"I will nobly represent our team at the most-likely robust meeting!" Gai offered. Kakashi nodded; union meetings were always up Gai's alley, and he was a regular attendee. Something about the earnest vigor of the protection of the guardians of youth. Kakashi always made a point of going to at least one, but this year was just too busy with the extra workload the old science teacher had left him.

"That reminds me; Asuma, you'll have to take over as treasurer. I can't make heads or tails of anything."

The math teacher grinned. "Numbers are my specialty. Where's the notebook?"

"It isn't a notebook, it's a giant folder with crumpled receipts and mixed up spreadsheets, and random hall passes and Homework Tickets." Kakashi noted Asuma's appropriate look of frustration. "I talked to the tech advisor yesterday, he searched the old science teacher's account and didn't find any sign of a file for the teams account. I had to go all the way to the financial office and get a printout of what's currently in there. It's on my desk right now."

"Bitch," Asuma cursed. "Was she trying to screw us over?"

"Probably," Kakashi offered lightly. Iruka threw him a disapproving look as the team secretary continued to take notes.

Kurenai leaned forward. "Homework Tickets?" she asked.

"Yes," Gai said expansively, "as our illustrious leader Kakashi mentioned last week, our team runs a glorious competition called A Period Excellence! Homework is noted in all the A periods, and on days where the entire class has completed the assigned work, they receive a check for their prodigious effort. When the period assembles a week's worth of checks, they receive what we have humbly titled as Homework Tickets."

Iruka picked up the narration. "I think I have some... here." From the team folder he pulled out a sheaf of paper cut to size that had the word "Homework Ticket" printed out in fancy lettering. Underneath it read, "This ticket to be presented in place of a homework assignment to receive full credit." Kurenai examined it while Iruka continued; "It's basically a freebee. They turn in that ticket if they didn't do the homework and they get credit for it. It applies to any academic classes, meaning the five of us, and it lasts to the end of the year. I remember Tenten last year, she banked hers so that she didn't have any homework for the last week of school in math."

"She just didn't want to study for the final," Asuma retorted blithely.

"At the end of the year we have an awards ceremony, and the class that has the most Homework Tickets gets the 'Most Studious Class' award, and gets a party thrown for them. Kids can get Homework Tickets in other ways, too; they're sort of a general prize for the various events we'll be holding over the year."

"Oh, I see," Kurenai said, handing the ticket back. "It's a positive reinforcement, a reward for doing their work. It also has the competition motif for those that don't by the reward, increasing the number of students who'll take it seriously."

"It didn't work out very well last year," Gai explained, "but the two years previous had students that were thrilled at the idea of a party. It was an excellent idea."

Kakashi decided it was time to move the conversation along. "Seventh and Eighth grades are paying for the 'Welcome Back' dance. The kids are already calling it for what it is, Homecoming. The student council is already trying to figure out how they can have a Homecoming king and queen and not have us notice."

Kurenai smiled. "Kids are so cute at this age."

"What kind of fundraiser are we going to do?" Iruka asked.

"I was thinking of a penny drive," Asuma offered. "Any and all coins increase the points of the team and all dollar bills decrease the points. We can suggest the student council set up as a two-fold competition, between grades and between homerooms. Winning homeroom can get free tickets or Homework Tickets or something. The student council can figure out the rest."

"Sounds good," Kakashi replied. As student council advisor, he'd find a good way to suggest it and make them think it was their idea.

"Is it not also time to do our bimonthly newsletter as well?" Gai asked.

"Yes," Iruka agreed. "First edition is usually about us. Kurenai, you'll have to write a mini biography of yourself." He reached into his folder. "I think I have a sample here somewhere as well." Pulling out a pamphlet, he slid handed it over to the new science teacher.

"Looks like a good way to keep in contact with the parents," Kurenai smiled.

Glancing at the clock, Kakashi noted that they were running low on time. "We do have some funds left over from last year, but I want us to start thinking of some of the fundraisers we can do through the year. It's a larger class than last year's, so we'll probably be needing new ideas to make sure that some of the poor kids can come to the various events we do."

They all nodded. "So, any last minute concerns?"

* * *

The following day, Kakashi got called into a team-leader meeting during the team time period; so he finally meandered in the day after. He'd already seen Iruka during his plan C Period, so he knew most of what was discussed in the meeting (the newsletter), but the big thing he wanted to hear about was the union meeting.

"Yo!" he greeted.

"You're late," Iruka barked.

Kakashi didn't even bother to offer an excuse and merely plopped down into a chair. "So, Gai, how was the union meeting?"

The social studies teacher sighed dramatically. "More of our brethren must attend these meetings!" he exclaimed passionately. "We seek to improve positions for these guardians of youth, yet with so few there to discuss their vested interests, how can we progress towards continuing the education of the next youthful generation?"

"For the few who did attend, what was discussed?" Kakashi cut through Gai's rant.

Gai flashed a sparkling smile. "Ah, Kakashi, I know you are far too busy to come to our meetings, and that you often have important duties to attend, but I think you would have had much to say at the union meeting! It would appear that our budget is yet again in doubt, and we are encouraged to try and order all necessary items for the year in now, before our source of income is turned into a block of ice as it has been for the past three years. Our new union representative seems most argumentative, and I feel that he does not appreciate the vigor of youth!"

Frowning, Gai continued. "He is also demanding that all new teachers come see him at his convenience and he hinted that new teachers might be mandated to come to union meetings."

"What?" Kurenai exclaimed. "I'll come to meetings when I have the chance, but this is my fist year here! I need to settle in, get through Ebisu's and Sandaime's observations of me, get acclimated to the curriculum--"

"We are all in agreement," Asuma interjected. "That's unreasonable. And if that's our union rep, he won't last long."

Kakashi agreed. That type of person encouraged faculty to eat each other alive. This school's faculty couldn't afford that given that the students _needed_ them and politics like that would just destroy the staff and leave less of them for the students. Students would always come first. Some students didn't have anything else to rely on.

"Belying idiots," Kakashi redirected the conversation, "let's move on to brighter topics. I understand the newsletter's gotten a lot of progress yesterday. I did have some time last night and have my own contributions." He put his flash drive on the desk.

Iruka took it and went to Asuma's computer to start finishing up the pamphlet.

"Did anyone else notice the bruise on Sasuke's arm?" Kurenai asked. "His sleeve got rolled up in class today when he was putting on his apron. It's massive!"

"Yes," Kakashi replied. "I asked him quietly during SSR and apparently a cyclist knocked him into a railing the other day."

"Ow," Asuma grunted. "That would hurt."

"So, it's finally been told to we lowly teachers what our professional development will be this year. The half-days are going to be writing workshops." Kakashi thought back, pulling up all the details he had mentally filed away. "We have a guest speaker who's currently putting forth all the new research in education who'll come and talk to us on how to better include writing into our classrooms. The full professional days are going to be curriculum. Our superintendent is insisting that it's getting old again and that it needs to be revamped."

Kurenai sighed. "I'm still trying to make heads or tails of the curriculum left to me. My predecessor seems to have been extremely disorganized."

"Also," Kakashi added, "Open House is just over a week away. We need to induct Kurenai into what we do." He turned to her while he heard the clicks and keyboard thumps of Iruka as he pasted text into the newsletter. "The school day is distilled into an hour; all the classes are squished into ten minutes, and the parents follow the schedules of their kids, wandering from class to class."

"That a little different from what I did last year," Kurenai offered.

Kakashi nodded. "You have five minutes to do your little blurb of what you think is important, and then the parents fire questions at you. Some of them, like the Hyuuga parents, can ask really obscure questions. Others will want to ask how you'll react to their kid's particular quirks. If we're lucky, about half of them will actually show."

"We get more here in the middle school than the high school," Asuma said. "I hear they're debated on whether they should even hold Open House this year."

Iruka snorted in the background, but then got up and walked to the printer. "Here, how's this look?"

Kakashi flipped through the four pages. He hid his grimace at Gai's flourish and the occasional spelling errors, instead grabbing Iruka's pen without asking (and openly smiling when the special ed teacher protested) and marking the changes. "We should also mention parent teacher conferences; they come up in November. Oh, and the Welcome Back dance, and about class dues. They always forget class dues."

"You enjoy making me work, don't you?" Iruka grumbled. He grabbed his pen back angrily and went back to taking notes while Kurenai picked up the corrected copy and went to Asuma's computer.

"Has anyone wheedled out the problem kids?" Asuma asked.

"Naruto is going to be a trouble maker," Kakashi sighed. "He's got too much energy and is quite the knucklehead. Putting him and Kiba together in the same class is almost asking for disruptions."

"Koumaki's good at being distracted," Kurenai offered from the computer. "Are you sure he isn't one of yours, Iruka?"

"No," Iruka sounded relieved. "Having twenty is enough. Especially when all of them are in my room for Resource." Iruka put his head down on the desk, absently rubbing the scar across his nose. "They all need individualized attention and there's only one of me and three paraprofessionals in the room. Gaara will also be a problem with his issues."

"Socially and Emotionally Disturbed kids are like that." Asuma took a deep breath, his fingers reaching for a cigarette that wasn't there. "Yuzuhi and Maname love entering bitch fights in the halls, and there's someone instigating in my B period class. I think it might be Kankuro, but I'm not sure. Let's not forget Chouji."

"Ah yes, Chouji," Kurenai lamented. "The little thief. He's always taking other students supplies. I swear, I'm going to have to stand next to him during experiments to make sure he doesn't steal a microscope."

"Chouji's not that bad," replied Kakashi. "He just needs some level of pertinence. He does fine in my classes. So does Maname, but then, Yuzuhi is in a different period."

Iruka snorted again. "Let's just say that my entire Resource period are trouble makers and leave it at that." Sitting up, he amended, "I take that back. I have about four in there who do what I say and don't waver. Naruto will listen, but he doesn't stay focused very well, and his years of switching foster homes has made his education a little splotchy. He gets frustrated very easily."

Asuma grunted in agreement, rubbing at his eyes. "Let's just face it. Half the grade is going to get into trouble at one point or another. Let's just savor our angels like Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino while we can focus on them."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Plate spinning chapter. The first few weeks of school, for both teachers and students alike, are a sort of "honeymoon" period because nobody knows anybody and they're on their best behavior. That's reflected in this and the next few chapters, so we spend our time doing what we call plate spinning, where we start drawing attention to certain factoids that will be important later in the fic. Things aren't just going to happen with the students, either. A few big events will be happening to the teachers. Could you count all the threads we started?


	3. Week 2

**September: Week Two**

Thanks to **BeautifulSilverSilence** and **TigerZahn** for seeing the screwy quotation marks. Curse smartquotes in MS Word! The discovery caused two hours of going through all the chapter's we've uploaded to fix the problem. I think we've gotten everything now; if anybody else sees a screwy character were a quote or an apostrophe should be, let us know.

* * *

Kakashi was surprised when he entered his homeroom. Given his propensity to be late, Iruka had the habit of opening his room for him, since he was just across the hall. The tardy English teacher didn't keep anything valuable in his room aside from his computer, but students knew enough to not dare take that. What had surprised him was the Penny Drive jug on the counter by the wall. It was already almost a quarter full of various coins and dollar bills. Someone in the student council had evidently been billing this fundraiser over the weekend, because if Kakashi's estimation was anywhere close, there was already almost fifty dollars of coins in there. Someone was evidently a big spender.

Smiling as he dropped off his bag, Kakashi went across the hall to Gai's homeroom. His jar was fairly full as well. So Kakashi did only what was natural. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and dropped it into Gai's jar. Knowing Gai as he did, the competition between their two homerooms was about to flourish.

His excuse for being late E period was that he'd gone on a mythic and epic adventure for a working copier, traveling through many lands and facing many enemies, including the evil dragon Raido and wicked sorcerer Ebisu, before finally digging his way through the vast jungles known as the Finance Office to catch a glimpse of the sacred item, only to discover that he had to go _all_ the way back to his room for the worksheet wanted to make copies with anyway.

Gai burst out laughing. "Such a harrowing adventure could only be endured, let alone told, by the illustrious Scarecrow Knight, Hatake Kakashi!"

"You're still late," Iruka grumbled, but there was a grin under his scowl.

Kakashi decided not to deem that worthy of response, instead slouching in his chair and pulling out his beloved book. "Did anyone else's homeroom have a lot of money in their jar this morning?" he asked.

"Yes," Kurenai said. "I was surprised it got started so quickly. It only begins today, right?"

"I think Haruno Sakura might be behind it," Kakashi offered. "She was mentioning at the council meeting last week that she was really excited about the idea of a penny drive. I get the feeling she's one of those self motivated kids."

Asuma rolled his eyes. "Yeah, self motivated about her grade. She wants exact details on what's expected for an A, whether or not there's a rubric, how much it counts against her grade. It's annoying."

"I find it refreshing," Gai countered. "To see such a beautiful young flower burn with the passion for knowledge is ever so rare in this besotted dust storm of apathetic youth."

"Wasn't there supposed to be a bake sale by the eighth grade?" Iruka asked, still taking notes. "When does that start?"

"It doesn't," Kurenai replied, flipping through her planner and writing in the boxes. "That new legislation passed last year bans the sale of unhealthy food. No cookies, turnovers, cupcakes, brownies, candy, or chocolate. Nobody will buy healthy food, so it was a no go." She looked up. "May I complain for a moment?" she asked.

"That's what we're here for," Kakashi answered, turning a page.

"In my last school I was a biology teacher. My degree and my passion was environmental science. But the seventh grade curriculum looks to be almost nothing but physics. I only have a passing knowledge of it, and my predecessor was the most disorganized person in the world; everything she left behind is trash, and I don't know the middle school standards and curriculum very well yet. I don't know how I'm going to get through the year." She sighed and rested her hand on a small fist. "It's very frustrating when I don't know what's coming next any more than the kids do."

Asuma sat forward. "Have you talked to the department head?"

Kurenai flushed. "I would, but I don't know who is the department head."

Kakashi looked up to the ceiling, filing through his brain. "That'd be Anko, right? She took over after your predecessor left."

"Short hair? Grey eyes?"

"Yes," Iruka said, pausing in his note taking. "Her room's clear across the building in the sixth grade wing. She's relatively new, came here three years ago, I think. Right after me. She's really strict with the students, but she's really nice once you get her one on one."

"When's her prep?" Asuma asked.

"Don't know. Let me call the office and check." Iruka got up and went to Asuma's phone.

"Thank you," the red-eyed science teacher said sincerely. "It just gets so frustrating."

"It always does," Gai said sympathetically. "Challenges arrive to test our spirit and our hearts every year; they always seem particularly difficult at a new school, because there is the added pressure of new faces and new routines and new regulations. But the purpose of a team is to support one another so that we may better instruct youth in the knowledge of tomorrow." He flashed a toothy grin and shoved a thumbs up in Kurenai's face. "Know that this team shall assist you in any way possible, as will our beloved Anko and our irreverent and illustrious principal!"

Asuma chortled even as Iruka came back from the phone. "Notice that he didn't say our vice principal," he said slyly.

"Now, now," Kakashi said, not bothering to look up from his book. "Ebisu means well. He's a stickler for the rules and is usually pretty good about student discipline."

Asuma had the presence of mind to balk. "You're _defending_ him?!"

"He just has a swelled ego," Kakashi continued, ignoring Asuma's outburst. "He tends to think that he only needs to talk to important people, forgetting that the teacher is perhaps the most important person in the school."

The math teacher let out a relieved sigh. "I'll be right back. I need a cigarette after that scare!"

"Anko's prep is next period, unfortunately. But I talked to her briefly, and she said to drop by after school. She'll get you set up. She was seventh grade long before she switched to sixth."

"Alright," Kurenai said, making a note in her planner. "Thank you again."

"We should probably start talking about this year's class trip," Kakashi suggested. "The trip to the state capitol last year was disastrous."

"The present eighth grade was sadly intolerant of locations of higher learning and signs of working towards the future. They were bereft of understanding of the merit their lives had."

"You're just upset no one liked you're idea of a class trip," Kakashi said blithely.

"Why not someplace fun," Iruka suggested. "Like an amusement park or the beach. It'll be the end of the year, and they'll be itching to be someplace where they can scream."

"The beach is a four hour drive," Kakashi said, "and gas prices might get even more expensive by then. Besides, we'd need a very specific itinerary for them. An amusement park might be better."

"We can look some things up tomorrow," Kurenai said, glancing at the clock. "Do some quick pricing, see what we need versus what we have in the budget."

"Alright, we'll do it that way," Kakashi said just as the bell rang.

* * *

"What's the excuse this time?" Iruka asked under an intense glare.

"I got a good look at myself in the mirror and realized I have silver hair. I was trying to count all the experiences I had with the kids that generated them and tried to ascertain if it was enough to make my whole head this color."

Kurenai snickered behind her hand and Asuma had a distinct grin of amusement.

Kakashi grinned in triumph and took his normal slouched position in his chair, flipping open his book. "You had mentioned last week about PPTs?" he asked Iruka without even lifting his gaze.

"Oh, yes, that's right." Iruka dipped to the side and began rummaging under his chair before coming back up with a thick folder, conveniently with the label of PPT on the spine and front cover. He flipped it open and began rattling off names. "Most of them are next week; it'll be sort of a marathon for me. We'll start with Chouji, since he's Monday during team time."

"I'll go," Kakashi offered, raising his hand if not his gaze to volunteer.

Iruka rattled off the names one by one and when their PPTs were. He wasn't kidding when he said marathon, and the others took turns volunteering for the appointments that were compatible with their schedules. "Good," Iruka said finally. "The rest we'll have to get the specials teachers, but the Special Ed secretary will handle that, send of an email I expect. I'll call her and let her know which ones are still open." He got up to go to the phone.

"Students turn in their class dues during homeroom, right?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes," Gai replied. "Why?"

"I've had them trying to pass them off to me all day."

"Did you take them?"

"No, I told them to give it to their homeroom teacher."

Asuma frowned. "You should have taken it," he said slowly. "These kids have a hard time retaining information and remembering things that aren't emotional bombshells. The ones you turned down have probably used the money to buy lunch or a cell phone by now."

Kurenai frowned, looking ashamed. "I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi reassured. "It's their responsibility to remember. You can tell them that when they whine about paying twice. Be smug about it, too; it drives them nuts."

"That reminds me," Gai said, "do we know the results of the penny drive yet? After a week of enjoyable battle, a winner is to be announced at the end of today, right?"

"Yeah, the math teachers did all the counting." Asuma grinned. "We're considered 'impartial.' Overall, seventh grade won, and I have no doubt whatsoever it was because of you and Kakashi. The winning homeroom seventh grade was yours, I think."

"Aha! I am once again ahead of you, Kakashi!" the social studies teacher said expansively, looking pleased with himself. "You are no doubt chagrined from your epic defeat."

"Not really," Kakashi deadpanned.

"Oooh! You're cool noncommittal attitude lights the fire of competition even more forcefully than before! Your number one rival, the Green Beast, shall continue to overpower you!"

"Whatever."

"Green Beast?" Kurenai, again.

"Nickname," Iruka explained, sitting back down and taking up his pen again. "A lot of us have them. Kakashi is called the Scarecrow sometimes, Gai the Green Beast, Asuma is either Go-sama or Sudoku-sama, etc. Even the office and the guidance department have them."

"Orochimaru is called 'the Snake Guy,' and Jiraiya is called 'Pervy Sage.'"

Kurenai's red eyes blinked before growing to saucer size. "'Pervy... Sage?" she repeated incredulously.

"That's for short," Iruka explained quickly, waving a hand reassuringly. "He was a science teacher before he became a guidance counselor, and he loved that experiment with frogs were you start and stop the heart. The students all called him the Perverted Toad Sage because of it. It shortened to Perverted Sage, and then just Pervy Sage. He even has a sign saying it on the back of his door. It amuses him and gives the kids something to laugh about."

"Getting back to money," Asuma interjected, his hand reaching for a cigarette he didn't have, "I finally made sense of the budget, as well as I'm going to at any rate." He pulled out a manila folder and opened it. "We have about two hundred dollars in the account right now."

"Not including the pizza, I assume," Kakashi said as he took a bite of his slice. Ah, Hawaiian topping.

"Including the pizza," Asuma retorted, smiling. "And the Chinese, and the donuts. It's less than I wanted, but more than I was expecting. I also did some checking. Six Flags is a little over three hours away, and they offer discount prices for schools and other bulk ticket sales. Even with that, the price for one hundred and twenty-six students plus teachers and chaperons is going to be a lot more than two hundred dollars. Plus we're footing the bills on several of the dances and the normal oddities like supplies and the like. We're going to need to do some serious fundraising this year if we're going to pull it off."

"Do you have a number to reach for?" Gai asked.

"Roughly. I have a few, but I need to figure out how generous this grade is on fundraisers and what kind of raisers we'll be doing throughout the year. Aside from the food, we don't spend much as a team, but if this year isn't all that giving, we may end up going on diets."

Kakashi looked up. "Not if we can help it." He _liked_ eating with his team once a week. Social moments for a teacher were rare at best outside of the weekends, and it was a nice way to get a break in the middle of the day without trying to navigate around the faculty room politics and complaints and general dissent and jaded attitudes that often littered the faculty. "I was just going to suggest going out to dinner together the night of Open House. We'll all be here all day anyway."

"I'm for it," Iruka said. "I'll pay out of my own pocket if I have to."

"Like I said, I'll know more after we've had a few fundraisers."

"I see. Gossip?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka looked up but said nothing, instead finishing up his sentence. Kakashi knew the telltale signs. A guilty look, a nervous glance, a silent sigh, and a deep frown; something was bothering him, but he wasn't sure if he should mention it. Knowing Iruka, that meant he had something good. Kakashi spoke up, "What is it, Iruka?"

"It's probably nothing," Iruka said.

"If you noticed it, it must be something big."

Iruka looked down, abashed and flattered at the same time. "One of my kids, Uzumaki Naruto, he talks a lot. He chitters so fast that I can't make it out half the time, and his thoughts flitter back and forth so fast as he jumps from one thought to the next that it's hard to follow. But I've been getting a few hints. I don't think things are going well at home."

"Broken family?" Asuma asked.

"Foster family," Iruka corrected. "He's been an orphan since he was born; bounced back and forth all his life. This family he's been with for a little over a year and a half. They've emailed me a couple of times, but I get the feeling from Naruto that they're not in good straights. He talks about them arguing a lot. I hardly have any proof, I haven't even met them yet; their PPT is the week after next. I can't make that kind of judgment." He leaned back and rubbed the bridge of his scarred nose, still frowning.

"Well, we'll find out then, won't we?" Asuma stated.

"We can call Department of Child and Services if we have to," Kakashi reassured. "It's not like any of us haven't done it a dozen times or more for these kids. But let's wait on it; people argue all the time and it still turns out all right in the end. It may just be a rough patch, and because Naruto doesn't have the right examples he's misinterpreting it. All we can do right now is wait and see."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** More establishment here. Middle school teams all have their own routines and idiosyncrasies. One of the favorites we've come across is one team, once a week, going out to eat. The money comes from the team budget, of course, and it's a really nice treat for the teachers - a reward for dealing with kids day in and day out. There was also some more plate spinning. Naruto's arc sneaks up pretty quickly. Can you guess what's going to happen? There's also set up of later arcs occurring here. The first few chapters are always the most difficult, because a lot of this type of set up has to occur. And, of course, we're showing what teachers discuss and do, something that most students don't know.


	4. Week 3

**September: Week Three**

* * *

It was Friday before Iruka was finally able to join them in team time. Kakashi had been checking in on the special education teacher during his prep during C period and during homeroom from time to time. When he'd said there'd be a marathon of PPTs, he hadn't been kidding. Iruka hadn't had a free period yet that week and had, on occasion, missed a class that he co-taught in order to get through the almost thirty meetings he was trying to cram in.

So when Kakashi meandered around the corner and into Asuma's room, Iruka only offered a half-hearted proclamation of his tardiness. If Iruka was _that_ tired, plus having Open House or Parent-Teacher Conferences always made for a _long_ day. So Kakashi slouched into his preferred seat. Iruka, he decided, needed a break.

"Sorry for the delay," he started, "I had the most interesting conversation with Kiba."

"Oh?" Asuma asked, a wry grin on his face.

"Indeed. He asked me if it was true if Iruka and I hated each other."

"Hated?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Should I even ask?"

Iruka looked over to Kakashi, a wary expression covering his face.

Good. Kakashi had him. "Well, it seems that the rumor mill around the students has been in full production. Apparently, Iruka and I despise each other so much, detest working together to such a degree, that we had a fight involving sharp and pointy objects, hence the scar over my eye and over Iruka's nose."

The special ed teacher snorted, a bemused grin covering his face while Asuma and Gai chuckled. Excellent. Mission accomplished. Stage One in Relaxed Iruka was a success.

"So, oh-hated-colleague, how has the marathon been?"

Iruka hid a grin, shaking his head. "I've been through eleven of the twenty-odd PPTs. My paperwork load just increased by about a hundred fold, the parents are either going to be a really good help or more likely are molly-coddling and have no boundaries for the kids which, as usual, makes life difficult for us." He sighed, resting his chin down on his desk. "I've already given all the pertinent information to all of you when I've caught you during homeroom or class time. The required paperwork will probably get to you in about a month, but I'm getting a good handle on what each kid needs and has available to them."

"My youthful colleague! You have valiantly represented the best interests of today's youthful generation," Gai offered his sparkling smile. "You must now rest for the meeting of more parents of youth this evening!"

"Here," Kakashi tossed his book so that it neatly landed in front of Iruka's slumped figure and glancing at Asuma and Gai. "Maybe some good reading material will help you." Operation Relaxed Iruka, Stage Two, now in progress.

"I don't need you're porn, Scarecrow."

"_Porn_?" Kurenai exclaimed.

"Our English teacher has always preached the virtues of an alternate curriculum," Gai explained, his sparkling smile increasing in shininess. "His reasoning being of being more pertinent to our youthful students and more fascinating for them."

"_P-P-Porn_!" Kurenai repeated.

"Don't worry," grinned Asuma, "He never lets the book leave his person, so the students never see it. It's what he always reads, especially during faculty meetings and professional development."

"It gets the kids interested in reading," Kakashi protested. "They keep asking me what it's about and I tell them to improve their reading skills before they can even see the cover. They get so curious, they'll try anything."

"But, _porn_?!" Kurenai continued to sputter.

Finally, Iruka burst out laughing. Stage Two. Mission accomplished. "Please don't worry, Kurenai," the special education teacher chuckled. "His book really _is_ several levels above even college reading. He really _does_ use the book to challenge students to read." Iruka snorted again. "He uses their curiosity against them."

Still sputtering and blushing bright red, Kurenai looked down and seemed resolved to just fade into the background.

Iruka turned, an amused grin tugging at his lips. "Okay, Kakashi. You've loosened me up a little. I'll be leaving the last two periods today to you and try to squeeze in another few PPTs."

Well that just wouldn't do. Stage Three: Initiate.

"Fine, fine," Kakashi waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "But this afternoon, you're sleeping with me." The entire team sputtered and stuttered.

Operation Relaxed Iruka, Stage Three. Mission accomplished.

* * *

True to Kakashi's word, once the last bell had rung and the buses had finally disappeared down the street, he shooed out the usual straggling students from his room. His after-school help session was canceled this afternoon because he had a meeting. That taken care of, he went across the hall, reminded Iruka of his "appointment" and dragged him away from his students. Once back in Kakashi's room, he locked his door, turned of the lights, and shut the blinds.

Iruka grumbled, but yawned. Kakashi, after all, had a small couch in his room. It was used during Sustained Silent Reading, and the kids would often clamor over who got to sit in its soft cushiness by the lamp. It wasn't something he let the students do during class time, but it was another tool in his arsenal to encourage reading. The couch, however, had other uses, such as forcing hard-headed, exhausted special education teachers to take a break.

"I'll take care of your students, Iruka," Kakashi stated flatly. "You need to sleep at least a little before dealing with parents tonight."

"Fine, fine," Iruka yawned again before stretching out.

Going back to Iruka's room, Kakashi looked over the students who were hanging out. It took him only ten minutes to shove them off to the other teachers of his team for extra help and let the gossipers know that he just wanted to read. Aside from the random student poking their head in the door, Kakashi quietly whiled away the afternoon in his beloved book. He didn't look up until it was almost 4:30.

Smiling to himself, Kakashi stood and checked in with the rest of his team. The school was like a ghost town with the halls empty and the only sounds being the janitors rolling garbage cans down the halls as they hurried to clean the room for Open House that evening.

"Kakashi, I have discussed the dinner establishment that we will attend with our fellow educators of youth, we will introduce Kurenai to our usual restaurant of choice on such lively evenings as this."

Kakashi nodded and checked to see if they'd use Asuma's van as usual. Good, everything was set, so the Scarecrow quietly unlocked his door and evilly flipped on all of his lights.

"Argh!" Iruka grumbled and Kakashi chuckled lightly, opening the blinds to let in the afternoon sun.

"We'll be leaving in about fifteen minutes. You may want to straighten up."

Still grumbling around a yawn, Iruka offered a unique and rude gesture before getting up to go to the men's room and straighten up. Kakashi did a few minor things to straighten out his room before being the last to arrive at Asuma's van to go out to eat.

It was a reasonably priced restaurant that offered a fair variety of food that many teachers frequented. Once they all sat down, their special education teacher looked around, appearing much more refreshed. "So," Iruka asked, "While I've been kidnapped with PPTs, how have my kids been? Resource time isn't enough to really assess when PPTs are about the only think I can think about."

"Shiori was having a bad day earlier this week," Kurenai offered. "She was having trouble with some of the math I was introducing for the unit I'm doing." One by one, each teacher on the team detailed how the special education students were doing, along with several stories that made Iruka chuckle about the other students in their class, such as the accidental kiss that occurred in Kurenai's room between Sasuke and Naruto.

"Speaking of Naruto," Asuma's smile disappeared, "he's been horrible this week."

Iruka perked up. "Really? He's been oddly quiet during Resource with me."

"He's been anything but," Kurenai observed. "I don't have proof, but I'm positive he smashed a set of my test tubes on purpose."

"He and Kiba have had to been put in separate corners in my class," Kakashi agreed, "those two have been arguing, even across the room. I ended up throwing Kiba out for his foul language on Tuesday."

"Naruto has indeed had much more youthful energy in my class," offered Gai, "to the point where he distracts other students with his chatter, questions, and frequent arguments."

"In all of your PPTs this week, did you meet Naruto's foster parents?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka looked darkly at his plate. "No. I won't until next Tuesday. I think his foster parents must be arguing more and more. But why has he turned quiet in my time with him?"

Kakashi shook his head. "We can't solve the problem tonight. If we see Naruto's parents during Open House, we might be able to get some insight, but for now there's nothing we can do." He looked around at his team. "Keep an eye on him. Try to corner Naruto at some point during class and get him to talk if you can, he's got to have a teacher that he can open up to."

Everyone nodded. "Now," Kakashi continued, "I think we've spent enough time on business. It's time for pleasure." He turned with a sly grin to the special education teacher. "So how was sleeping with me this afternoon?"

Conversation turned much lighter after that and Kakashi sat back, watched and listened. Some of the "in jokes" were finally explained to Kurenai, such as Kakashi's reading material, his constant need to state things in a dirty manner, etc. The English teacher was pleased to note that he was the one who had the most running gags with the team. Kurenai offered some amusing tales from her own school, which led to some of the reasons why she left (mainly the driving distance and there were some faculty she didn't want to work with). Asuma offered various unpleasant descriptions of her predecessor and Gai countered with outrageous stories of previous years. Iruka added his two cents as he talked about some of the schools he'd worked at before landing here, since Iruka had been a substitute as well as a paraprofessional before finally getting to their school.

Naturally, this led Asuma to offer his own substitute experience and Kurenai laughed along with them, regaling them with tales of what _she_ would do when a substitute was in the room when she was a student. To that, Kakashi smirked, adding to the conversation only when he felt it pertinent, and watched. So far, Kurenai was presenting herself as a very good fit to the team. Her predecessor had been atrocious. A teacher from the old days who refused to change her methods for what was best for the children, one who lamented of the old days almost fifty years ago when children weren't so troubled.

While Kakashi would agree that each year kids seemed to get more and more difficult, that didn't mean you should stay the same. It was one of the draws of teaching for the Scarecrow teacher. Each day was different and each class had its own personality. The old science teacher couldn't change with the world and ended up as a bitter wound that wouldn't heal. She had caused hell for him his first year at the school and was infinitely worse to Iruka when he'd started. Kakashi praised their principal Sandaime immensely when he started suggesting to her that she retire.

However, getting rid of an old sore didn't mean you left a space open for a new sore. Granted, Kurenai was going to be observed closely by both Sandaime and Ebisu and probably other members of administration, etc, but Kakashi needed to make sure that his _team_ would approve. A good teacher was worth nothing if she couldn't work with her colleagues. Based on what he had seen, both in the classroom and outside of it, Kurenai was a little naïve of inner-city schools, but she could adapt. She had been adapting. She wasn't afraid to ask for help and she was a cheerful, pragmatic person.

However, there was a spark he'd seen at her interview that he'd yet to see truly ignite yet. If it didn't, then Kakashi was going to have concerns. She cared for the students, certainly, but if she didn't connect with them, or they with her, she wouldn't last long here. All the English teacher could hope for was that a student would worm their way into her heart and that her spark would ignite. Only _then_ would she really be able to make a difference at this school. And at Konoha Middle, they needed teachers who could make a difference, not just teach.

Still, so far so good. Kakashi kept up his quiet observations and let half his mind wander over to what he'd say for Open House.

* * *

It was getting close to quarter to ten when Kakashi finally locked up his room for the night. It never failed. Open House was scheduled for 7:00 to 9:00, but when parents had multiple children in the school system, they often missed one of their children's teachers. So while 9:00 finished the official Open House, there were always straggling parents coming in to meet the teachers or set up appointments to get more time, or leave email and phone numbers for contact purposes, etc.

It wasn't a bad turn out for Open House, Kakashi mused. He'd met the Hyuuga family before, as well as the Masaki, Aburame, and Hashiba. It was a pleasure to meet the Haruno parents, the Yamanaka, and Nara families, etc. Of course, those were students that he didn't have to worry about. Naruto's foster parents, Uchiha Itachi, the Inuzuka family, those were the students where he'd like to have a little support from the home for. But, as usual, it was the parents you need to see the most that never show up. That probably explained why the kids were troublesome in the first place.

Sensing good gossip approaching, Kakashi meandered to the corner and found Kurenai and Iruka chatting. Or rather, Iruka was reassuring while Kurenai voiced concerns.

"Did you see how many children Shiori's mother had with her? And Shiori had to translate what was being said. How can I maintain contact if we don't even speak the same language?"

"Don't worry," Kakashi interrupted. "That's why we have a translator here at the school. We're lucky that there aren't that many here like Shiori's mom. It's not like we have to send forms home in two or three languages like other school districts have to. And Shiori isn't really going to be much of a concern during class. Her only problem will be that she'll be to busy playing mother to all of her siblings to get much homework done."

Iruka nodded. "The Hyuuga's were nice and specific again this year, and I was shocked to see such a strong resemblance between Shino and his dad."

"Did anyone else see Kiba's dad?" Asuma asked, joining them.

"No," the three of them chorused.

"He dropped in to see me. Looks like it's just Kiba and his dad trying to make ends meet. He really loved my checkbook system in the class."

"Checkbooks?" Kurenai asked.

Iruka smiled. "Asuma has his kids buy their grades."

"Eh?"

"I pay for grades, good behavior, various things like that. Of course, my payments might be something like getting 2 to the tenth power. It makes them practice various skills." Asuma fingered a nonexistent cigarette. "Of course, misbehavior, missing work, using the bathroom, etc, cost them. They write out checks to me and take it away from their checkbook. Honestly, the hardest part is that some of the kids don't know their own address for the checks."

"What?" Kurenai asked, her eyes widening.

Asuma shrugged. "They can tell you how to get to their house from school, from school to the local fast food places, from the fast food places to their best friend's house, etc. But the actual address? No. I go through it every year."

"We told you the kids here are going to be different," Kakashi repeated. "I realize that this month has shocked you in a lot of ways, but you need to adjust fast if you are going to be there for the kids. This is why teachers here are so important. For some of these students, we're the only stability they have. Their home lives are so fucked up, this is their only chance at normalcy."

Kurenai's face hardened with resolve. "Don't worry about me," she stated firmly. "These students are my number one priority."

_Good_, Kakashi thought to himself. The spark would ignite if she kept this up.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I don't think kids realize just the kind of days teachers have. This chapter dealt entirely with a 12-hour+ day; the normal eight hours with the kids, the after school, a short break and then Open House - or parent/teacher conferences etc; plus there are the committee meetings, faculty meetings, department meetings, etc. The actual teaching is almost background compared to all the "maintainance" work that goes on after hours. Very few teachers come and leave with the students.

It was also nice to see some of the Naruto world habits slipping into this world. The idea of Kakashi with his beloved book out during SSR (sustained silent reading) and everyone joking it's porn, or the nicknames everyone has fit in rather nicely.

More plate spinning, too, as always. And yes, some of the stories we'll state in passing are _true_. In poor schools, we have met students who don't know their own address. Shocked? We certainly were.


	5. Week 4

**September: Week Four**

* * *

The "honeymoon" period ended on Tuesday. It began with Asuma doing his first write up of a girl, the blond Temari, who got particularly mouthy when he gave her a zero for no homework. Kurenai and Gai assigned their first detentions, to Shikamaru and Kiba respectively, and Kakashi knew that the heaven was over.

But something else was going on. As Kakashi drove in, he saw two police cars in front of the school. While that was a sadly common sight, it was a rare thing indeed to see them so early in the morning. Parking in yet another space, the English teacher distinctly remembered seeing Iruka's car, but was more than slightly surprised to see that his room had not been opened; indeed several students and several more bags were strewn about the door, lying in wait for him to bestow access to the room. After he did so, he poked his head across the hall to see that Iruka was not in his homeroom. While that was not unusual, teachers were always flitting about the halls doing last minute things, the students hadn't seen him, and neither had Gai, who had arrived an hour earlier.

Ultimately he never showed, and Gai and Kakashi split Iruka's homeroom to cover attendance. A substitute did finally arrive halfway through first period - lamenting that she had gotten the call right as school was starting. There were also, she complained, no lesson plans. Gai took care of her.

The students were tense. The teachers were tense. The students were more than happy to speculate about the cop cars, and each theory and hypothesis was more ludicrous than the last - enough so that Kakashi suggested to Kurenai, the science teacher, to grade them according to their scientific justifications. The list ranged from a teacher being suspended for throwing a desk, the principal being arrested for finding pornography on his computer, a kid getting arrested for killing a teacher, a cafeteria worker threatening to blow up the school, etc.

It finally got to the point where Kakashi poked his head into the office to get a hint as to whatever the major event was. Shizune, the secretary, could offer no ideas; that the police had been here when she'd gotten there. Jiraiya was nowhere to be found, and neither were the old man and Ebisu. Even Orochimaru didn't know what was going on, which meant that this happened _early_.

It was at team time that they got the email. Asuma passed on that Sandaime had emailed the entire building announcing a mandatory emergency faculty meeting after school. Most of the period was spent speculating what this was all about; only Kakashi suggested that it might have something to do with Iruka's disappearance.

Two periods later the day ended, and Kakashi and Gai shooed out the usual after school crowd. They nodded to each other and set off to the library together. It was clear across the school.

Kakashi loved the library; he whiled away many a prep or team time in the silent isles of books, either for pleasure or to deliberately annoy someone he was supposed to be meeting. Now it was crowded with teachers. He spied Kurenai sitting with Anko and the rest of the science department, getting some last minute things covered before the meeting started. Asuma was seated with a collection of fifth and sixth grade teachers. He and Gai sat at the last empty table, Gai on his left and the seat on his right empty. Kakashi put his book there to reserve it. He slouched but did not read, sensing his full attention would be needed for this.

He only moved his book when he arrived. Iruka plopped into the offered seat with a heavy thud before he, too, joined Kakashi in a slouch.

"Is it really that bad?" the English teacher asked.

"You'll find out in a minute," he replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose along the scar. "I can't explain it quickly."

There was no more time for questions, as Sandaime stepped in front of the check out counter, looking out across the sea of teachers and waiting for them to still. "If I could have your attention," he said quietly, prompting them. The silence was almost instantaneous as the last of the murmuring died away.

"At six o'clock this morning," Sandaime started, "a teacher came in to get some work done. He was surprised, however, to find a student had - at some point during the night - snuck into his room via an open window."

Kakashi knew immediately who the student was.

"The reason why that student had snuck into the school was because," and here the old man paused, closing his eyes, still trying to absorb information he had received over eight hours ago. His age showed as he continued, "was because last night he witnessed his foster father try to kill his foster mother."

The silence was deafening.

Somebody finally whispered, "Oh, my god." Kakashi snuck a sidelong glance at Iruka; the special education teacher looked years older than he actually was, there was a deep pensiveness, a faraway look that the English teacher had only seen twice before. This was hitting Iruka personally; which was natural, all things considered. The student, having seen something horrific and terrifying, had gone to the only place he felt safe and stable: school. It was a sad statement that the rundown campus was the only place the student felt security. To appear in Iruka's room took it to the next level - Iruka was the only teacher he felt he could go to. Kakashi mentally noted that that was going to change; he would personally make sure that the boy had several places to go. Dozens. Hundreds.

"Most of the day has been spent sorting out this situation," the old man was continuing, his voice as grave as his face. "The police were called, the student gave a statement, and steps have been taken to place the student in a new foster home. I've talked to the boy at length today," and here Sandaime smiled sadly, "and he'd rather just forget the entire thing happened. He even asked that I never speak of it again; obviously I needed to inform you all of today's events. He's made a point of not wanting any sympathy, not wanting to be treated any differently."

"What was his name?" one of the fifth grade teachers asked.

Sandaime smiled. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to say his name, but I suppose it's fair that you all know. Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi nodded, the comment about foster parents, and knowing of Iruka's absence, had made it obvious at any rate. A ripple passed through the faculty as they heard the name, and the English teacher assessed their reaction. It had been intense sympathy up to this point, but now he noticed an unhealthy number of teachers looking back and forth conspiratorially before they finally smiled a grim smile of vindication.

"Iruka, how was Naruto to the other teachers?" he asked in a low voice, inaudible to anyone but the man he was speaking to.

"He's a notorious prankster, I've been hearing pleas of sympathy from the other special education teachers for weeks when they learned I got him. He's unanimously disliked." Iruka, too, had seen the reaction. No wonder the old man had wanted to keep it secret. Even teachers could be human, and even they had students that they wanted the worst to happen to; Kakashi did not think them so shallow, however, as to be gleeful on the sad occasion where their dreams came true.

"I want a detailed report tomorrow," Kakashi said. "Naruto may not want to be treated differently, but we need to know everything that happened."

* * *

Asuma always made a point of closing his door during team time; kids would have to knock if they wanted in. Today, however, Asuma also locked his door. There would be no interruptions at all. Naruto was absent again, and Iruka passed on that he probably would be all week.

"Alright," Kakashi said, slouched but not reading. "Start."

"Well, you all know how I had all those PPTs last week, right? The paperwork for them, especially at this time of year, is horrific, and with a dozen to do, I wanted to get an early start. I usually get here about seven, but I decided to come in earlier to get a jump start on it." He paused, half grinning self-deprecatingly. "I still have all of it to do, don't I?

"When I unlocked my door, he was right there. Those orange clothes of his are hard to miss. He was sitting at his normal desk; head propped up with is hand, and staring at the board. He turned to me when I came in and said, 'Hey, sensei, I think I'm going to ace the vocab quiz this week.' The board had Kakashi's vocab list still on it. He'd been staring at it all night.

"I balked at first; I had no idea how he even got in until he pointed to the open window. I still don't know how he managed to squeeze through, that opening is very narrow. Anyway, I asked him how long he'd been there.

"He said, 'Oh, I don't know, since a little after midnight probably. What time is it now?'

"'It's six in the morning!' I exclaimed.

"'Oh, really? Wow,' he said. 'It feels like I've been here forever. Hey, sensei, do you have any money on you? I forgot to bring any, and I want to buy lunch. What are they serving today anyway?'

"'Never mind that!' I shouted. I didn't really handle it very well. 'Why on earth are you here so early in the morning?!'" Iruka paused in his narration. "I really need to work on my temper.

"Anyway, Naruto said, 'Do I really have to explain why?' That was when I finally realized that something serious must have happened. I sat down in the desk next to him.

"'You don't "have" to do anything,' I said finally. 'You don't "have" to go to school; you don't "have" to do your homework; you don't "have" to pay attention in class. There are a lot of things you don't "have" to do, but that doesn't mean there are things you don't "have" to do that you "should" do. You "should" go to school; you "should" do your homework; you "should" pay attention in class. I won't force you to say anything, but I think that you "should" tell my why you're hear at this ungodly hour.'"

"Well said," Gai murmured. Kakashi agreed.

Iruka continued. "He told me everything. In vivid detail. When he wants to, Naruto can have a very keen eye for detail... or maybe it's because the event was so traumatic that it burned an imprint on his mind, I'm not sure which. His foster parents, like I'd thought, weren't in a good place. There was a lot of arguing going on, since right about when school started. He said it had a lot to do with him - the price of the medication since they don't have insurance, the complaints of all the pranks he pulls and what atrocities he'll do this year, that sort of thing. It moved on to other things, Naruto said, but he's very adamant that he started the fight. When they hit their zenith, the foster father struck the foster mother to the ground, and then he put his hands around her neck. He was shouting profanities, and her head kept bouncing on the floor. Naruto says he might have shrieked; he's not really sure, but the foster father looked up and saw him; that was when he ran.

"He didn't remember how long he ran, and when he calmed down all he really wanted to do was to forget it ever happened, so he just figured he'd go to school early." Iruka smiled. "That's Naruto for you.

"I took him straight to Sandaime's office. He was in there, fortunately, and I nudged Naruto into telling the story again. He'd repeated it probably a dozen times by lunch, and he was really squirming over it; he just wanted to forget it and get to class. I don't know how many times he asked if he was done. Sandaime called the police and DCF, and the rest of the day was just getting everyone together, explaining what happened, etc. The foster mother was alive but suffering from several injuries, the father was arrested, DCF came in and interviewed everybody, the paperwork to get Naruto somewhere else, getting Jiraiya to stick him into grief counseling, and everything else."

Iruka finally stopped, putting his head in his hands, hiding himself from the rest of the team. The silence was loud, everyone giving the special ed teacher his moment.

"Alright," Kakashi drew out, looking up to the ceiling. "Now we know, so now we forget. Naruto wants to act like none of this ever happened. That's what we'll give him. When he comes back, no special chances, no freebees, no sympathetic looks, no nothing. He's just another student in class with an attitude problem. Iruka will be the one to talk to him, he'll ask how it's going, what he new foster family is like, etcetera. He'll pass it on to us, and we'll continue to give him nothing. He wants normalcy, and that's what we'll give him."

After team, when the bell rang and the five teachers gave a collective sigh of relief, Kakashi followed Iruka into his room. "Can you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Be his anchor. He chose you when he crawled into your room. You're the only teacher in this entire building he trusts. For now. The rest of us are going to worm our way in eventually, but for now the responsibility falls entirely on your shoulders. Can you do it?"

Iruka's face became very earnest, his eyes hardening and softening at the same time, his mouth pressing into a thin line not quite a smile but not a frown.

"I can do it," he said simply. "I'll do anything if it means that kid can have a chance."

Kakashi smiled openly. "And that's why you're such a good teacher."

* * *

Two days later was Friday, and still no Naruto. It would have been another humdrum day if Kakashi hadn't had a long hard look at his desk calendar. He'd been penciling in when his first test would be and trying to figure out from there where he'd be when he went to a regional conference; a professional day where'd he'd be reading, when he realized that it _was_ Friday. He made a quick call to one of the eighth grade teachers before he wandered around the corner and into Asuma's classroom.

As expected, everyone was there. Iruka was feeling better, because he declaimed, "You're late!"

"Not really," he replied genially. "We're late. Very late."

"Late for what?" Gai asked, looking confused.

"Late for decorating," Kakashi replied. "Today's Friday, the Welcome Back dance is tonight. We're supposed to be helping the eighth grade decorate the gym."

There was a moment of graphic silence as the information processed.

"Oh, shit!" That was Asuma.

"Do we even have decorations?" Kurenai asked, standing.

"No," Iruka said, furiously finishing up whatever notes he was writing before closing the team notebook. "We deliberately used up the last of them last year so we could start fresh this year."

"Alright," Kakashi drew out, sighing. "Asuma, go to the supermarket up the street with Kurenai. Get the usual, balloons, streamers, and tablecloths. Get school colors. The rest of us will go to the gym and grovel until they start assigning us jobs." They all nodded and moved off.

The school was split into two halves, basically. The "left" side of the building was the academic side, with a double rectangle of classrooms. With science rooms on the corners, the halls were divided by the teams. In the center of the school were the office, guidance, and health offices. On the right side were the oddities, such as the gym, the cafeteria, the auditorium, the music rooms, etc. Kakashi, Iruka, and Gai walked briskly to the gymnasium. The weather was good, and would be for several weeks yet, and so classes were being held outside. Technically, decoration was left to the student council, but the teachers unanimously agreed that - at twelve and thirteen - the kids couldn't know how to decorate if they tried.

Only two other teachers were there, math and social studies respectively. The glares were dark and evil, but Kakashi stared back unblinkingly. "Sorry we're late," he said smoothly. "We were busy coming up with a decoration plan. We all agreed to design it like a tropical island. Asuma and Kurenai are on a plane to the Caribbean to get the sand as we speak."

"Just shut up and get to work."

The rest of the period was spent blowing up balloons - a skill Kakashi never developed and decided to supervise; hang streamers - Kakashi did not favor heights unless absolutely necessary and so he supervised; make banners - no artistic skill, so supervise; and annoy the gym students as they came inside - a job Kakashi took very seriously. Asuma and Kurenai arrived fifteen minutes in and helped. It was quickly discovered that Kurenai had a fair bit of artistic ability as she skillfully did two banners. Gai once again proved an amazing eye for balance as they placed the balloons etc, while Asuma and the eighth grade teachers argued vehemently over how to place the tables.

The bell rang, and the five gathered together at the door of the gym.

"Who's going to this shindig, anyway?" the silver haired English teacher asked.

"Me," Kurenai said. "It's a good way to assess the student social structure."

"And, I, of course, shall dutifully chaperone these creatures of youth!"

"... Right," Kakashi replied. "Let me know what you learn Monday. Every little bit helps."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I want it understood that no teacher, absolutely NO teacher, would ever, ever, EVER be happy about hearing Naruto's circumstances. If they did, they weren't fit to put in charge of children. But Naruto is ostracized in his world by the adults which rubs off on the children, and we tried (and frankly failed) to generate that sensation here.

Yes, this actually happened; I think we said at the beginning of the fic that almost every single story and arc we're going to do over the course of this fic either happened to us or told to us by other teachers. These aren't happy stories, and frankly there's no need to doctor them. The kid this was based on didn't break into the school, he waited by the front doors at three in the morning and the principal found him when he came to open the school. We embellished on Iruka's conversation with Naruto however, but then it's Iruka, and he has a way of doing that. :P

As traumatic as something like this is, though, life does go on. I can picture other authors spending entire chapters talking about what happened in those few hours or an entire fic on the next few days with Naruto at his new home, but we deliberately had everything happen off screen and have Iruka - not Kakashi - have to recite it. The teachers have to deal with these things in quick bursts, and then move on to planning the school dance or attending a faculty meeting or moving on to the next horror story. Plus, not every teacher is there all the time (that would be scary) and you have to hear these things side hand. Kakashi will be seeing most of the events in this fic for convenience's sake, but we're very consciously choosing certain events to happen with other teachers, too.


	6. Week 5

**October: Week Five**

* * *

Kakashi's excuse this time was about an interesting pedagogical tale in which he ran into Orochimaru who was browbeating a student. Now Orochimaru was a _good_ guidance counselor for troubled kids. He always made them aspire to learn more and aim high for themselves, but the Snake Guy's personality sucked. Jiraiya was always far more approachable. In this tale, Orochimaru's browbeating was harsher than normal and the student he was talking down to was their very own Uchiha Sasuke. While Kakashi listened, it was clear that the Snake Guy was trying to get Sasuke to do well in school. The problem was that Sasuke was already doing well and, therefore, didn't need Orochimaru's "intervention".

So naturally, Kakashi did his own intervention.

"Ah, there you are, Sasuke."

The Uchiha boy looked over, his face stoic. "Kakashi-sensei."

"If you'll excuse me, Orochimaru, I think Sasuke and I need to have a little talk. Besides, I heard Jiraiya was looking for you in regards to one of Iruka's SED students."

Orochimaru gave an arrogant smirk, as was his usual style when dealing with teachers, and replied, "I know the one you mean." His gaze easily slid back to the short twelve year old. "Remember what I said, Sasuke."

"Hn."

As the Snake Guy slithered away, Kakashi shook his head. Orochimaru was good for some of their students, but he'd _never_ fit in well with the faculty. He glanced down at Sasuke's stoic, if tightly held expression. "I don't know what you and he were talking about, and I won't pry. You'll talk to me if you want to," which was true enough. Sasuke only spoke up in class if the topic interested him. Otherwise, he'd stare out the window or bicker with other students in the class like Gaara or Naruto. "However, I know a little of how Orochimaru works. He isn't with you everyday. I think you need to make your own decisions, not whatever Orochimaru wants. You're an intelligent young man and can make your own informed choices. Remember, one viewpoint is not the only viewpoint."

"Hn."

Kakashi grinned widely. "That's what I like about you Sasuke, a man of few words," he patted him lightly on the shoulder, not missing Sasuke's wince. Kakashi said nothing, but raised an eyebrow as Sasuke's hand reached up and massaged his shoulder.

"My brother had me doing a lot of yard work yesterday, sensei. I'm a little sore."

"I see." That would make sense. Itachi would need to have a full-time job in order to keep food on the table for both himself and Sasuke. So, naturally, a lot of the round-the-house chores would fall on the seventh-grader's, apparently soar, shoulders.

Nothing ever worked as well as an excuse as working with the students.

"Fine, fine," Iruka grumbled, noting the incident in his notebook.

Kakashi grinned blithely while reading his book before dropping back to seriousness. "I see Naruto next period. How's he been?"

"Normal for Naruto," Asuma replied. "It's like nothing happened last week." Kurenai and Gai nodded.

"I met with his new foster parent today," Iruka stated. "A nice fellow named Yondaime. He's relatively new to the foster parent thing, but it looks like he might make a good one. I've talked a lot about what Naruto's disability is and what to expect. We'll see as he and Naruto feel each other out."

Kakashi nodded. It would be nice if Naruto had found a foster parent whom he could stay with, but given Naruto's track record, they'd all have to wait and see. He glanced at the clock, not liking how his encounter with Orochimaru had taken longer than he would have preferred. He may be tardy all the time, but Kakashi had standards with his tardiness.

"Kurenai, Gai, inform us tomorrow about the dance, I don't think you two will have enough time. Instead, since we're now starting October, I want to talk about Halloween."

"Oh?" Kurenai asked.

"Every year, the teams and departments of this noble, youthful facility choose themes for which to decorate themselves in costumes," Gai explained dramatically. "Here in the seventh grade, there is often a heated unofficial contest to see which team has the better costumes."

"Last year," Asuma added, "the office staff did monster movies, one of the fifth grade teams did clowns." He smirked. "We did _The Wizard of Oz_. Kakashi was the Scarecrow, obviously. Gai was the Lion, also obviously. I dressed up as the Tin-Man, and our old science teacher was the Wicked Witch of the West."

Iruka snorted. "Both students and faculty commented that her choice was somehow very fitting."

"What about you, Iruka?" Kurenai asked, smiling. "Which character were you? The Wizard?"

"Nope." Kakashi grinned broadly as the special education teacher started to blush brightly. "He was Dorothy. Blue dress, braids, and red slippers." Kurenai blinked, looked at Iruka, then burst out laughing. Everyone joined her, even the inflamed subject of laughter joining in with some small chuckles and it was a good release. Every now and then, you just had to laugh.

"In any event," Kakashi continued, "there's a sort of unofficial competition between us and the other seventh grade team." He grinned broadly. "And I just heard that the other team will be doing a pirate theme this year. So, of course, I thought we'd do a ninja theme."

Asuma fingered a missing cigarette, "I think we should take that idea up a notch. Instead of all of us dressed in black and wearing masks and hoods, maybe we should think of what a modern ninja would look like?"

The team latched onto the idea and brainstormed for the rest of the period. Gai, naturally, seemed to have many ideas (which Kakashi disregarded totally) and Kurenai offered to have the costumes tailored at a discount since her mother was a seamstress. The conversation was light and fun, with Kakashi offering more practical advice given his brief time in the military, Gai offering how ninja clothing might update (the idea of toe-less sneakers was fantastic, though Kakashi wouldn't admit that to his colleague), Iruka and Asuma discussed what the kids might want to see most out of the costumes, and Kurenai jotted it all down, promising designs by the end of the week. Over all, it went very well and Kakashi was glad that Kurenai had so much to contribute.

* * *

"You're late!"

"I'm sorry, I was looking through information about that regional conference I'm going to when it hit me. The light of heaven would be there and I had nothing appropriate to wear for encountering holiness."

Formalities settled, Kakashi slumped into his seat and pulled out his book. "So, Gai, Kurenai, how was the dance?"

"The youth of today are indeed presenting a myriad of challengers for we educators of tomorrow," Gai started. "Kurenai and I decided our best way to observe would be for me to watch the future gentleman, and for her to observe the young ladies."

Kurenai snorted. "Some of the girls were flocking to me and an eighth grader was spending every waking moment during that dance with his 'honorable Gai-sensei'."

The Green Beast nodded. "Rock Li was an instrumental source of gossip, both on how last year's class has progressed, and with giving rumors about our current students of youth." Reaching into the folder he'd brought with him, Gai pulled out copies of a sheet that he passed around. "That contains most of the information that I was able to subtly pull from my most beloved student. As you can see, there are several students who are viewed as the 'loser' stigma, such as the brave Uzumaki Naruto, the loyal Inuzuka Kiba, and the plump Akimachi Chouji. The young gentleman shun these and the other students I have listed and avoid their classmates like they were some form of disease."

Gai paused, frowning. "From what I observed, such punitive attitudes have led to Kiba displaying very negative tendencies, almost like that of a bully, though he may be merely acting out. The boys of the class also know to stay far away from Kazegage Gaara, for he appears to have a violent reputation, while Uchiha Sasuke is merely aloof. I did not see our young Uchiha at the dance at all. Those, I believe, are the most talked about aspects of our current class."

"Very thorough, as usual," Asuma nodded. "And you, Kurenai?"

"While I hardly made a summary," she stated, "it is amazing what you can pick up by just listening. While some of the girls did flock to me, the most information I got was by the refreshments. I won't bore you with the who-likes-who dramas going on, but there were a few notable aspects. Many of the girls are starting to get crushes on our little Sasuke, to the point of destroying friendships. I have Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura in my A period class, and they've been tight friends and good lab partners. Friday night, they got into a hissing match when they both discovered that they both liked Sasuke, even though Sasuke has turned down any girl that talks to him." Kurenai chuckled. "I swear, those two are setting themselves up as anime rivals. I expect that once they're both turned down they'll go back to being friends, but for now, they're bitter enemies.

"Speaking of Ino, she and Temari have some sort of thing going on between them. They never seem to back down from the other. There's no love loss there, that's for sure. In fact, most of the girls are very strong willed and are getting into their argumentative stage. Yuzuhi and Miname's 'bitch fights' won't be the only ones. About the only girl who didn't have much gossip about her was Hyuuga Hinata. She was a wallflower the entire time."

Gai nodded. "There is indeed a sense of competitive spirit among this years representatives of youth. I have an idea I'd like to try and I shall inform you all of its success or failure."

Kakashi turned a page in his book, absorbing the information. The students this year were going to have tendencies to arguments or maybe even fights. That matched with what he'd heard from some of the sixth grade teachers - that this class had a reputation of being rough. Ah well, his team could handle it. There'd be complaints and probably much needed support in various rooms, but Kakashi would make sure that his team would make it to the end of the year with at least one success story under each teacher's belt.

* * *

His excuse for being late Friday was accepted by everyone: an offering a food. Specifically, doughnuts, egg sandwiches, bacon, and sausage. Kakashi brought brunch for lunch. He slouched into his chair with two chocolate frosted nuts of dough and a bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich. He knew he'd probably have an extra doughnut, but for now, he'd avoid it and just enjoy his food.

"So, Iruka, why the long face?" he started.

Iruka said nothing, but instead just took a large gulp of coffee. "My Demon Resource was particularly bad today. Takato and Hanamaru had one of those block art erasers and took great delight in tearing it up and throwing the pieces at Gaara to try and set him off. Kiba and Naruto were bickering over something inconsequential, but it ended up dragging Chouji and Shikamaru into the fray." He sighed, long and loud. "Takato has detention with me Monday and Hanamaru ended up getting written up for pressing matters. Naruto and Kiba also have detentions Monday with me. Because of their behavior." Sighing again, he bit fiercely into his doughnut. "What I wouldn't give to just have Sustained Silent Reading like the rest of you."

To that, Kakashi snorted. "It's a battle everyday to get them to read, you know that. Even though it has been proven that the more you read, the better your scores will be and the more intelligent you can become, I can guarantee that I'll have students who just stare at a book all year long."

"Besides," Asuma interjected, fingering a cigarette that wasn't there, "You might not have to worry about Shikamaru. I'm recommending him to eighth grade math."

Iruka perked up.

"Ah, our lazy youthful genius has at last been given a proper challenge?" Gai asked.

Asuma nodded. "You know how I have chess and shogi boards in my room for spare time and if kids come up for lunch, right? Well Shikamaru's at the board all the time. I started talking Algebra to him last week and he's not only keeping up with me, he's making deductive leaps that should probably put him in Geometry, not Algebra I. I just need to know the forms that are needed, if we need to do a PPT to get permission and the like."

Iruka noted all of this down in his notebook and moved his seat and lunch over to Asuma where the continued to talk about what paperwork Shikamaru would need.

"Chouji may be in a bad mood today," Kurenai added. "I think he must have a cold or something, because he was distracted and muddle-brained during class today. He actually tried to hit on me."

The room went silent.

"Please tell me you wrote him up," Asuma whispered, looking very much like a cigarette should be falling from his mouth.

"Of course," Kurenai smiled. "Of course, he needs to work on his pick-up lines. I drew the line when he tried to stroke my shoulder."

"That kid has balls," Kakashi stated flatly.

Shaking her head, their new science teacher continued, "I've had students hit on me before, usually by talking when I can't hear about how 'hot' I am. I just redirect and that's the end of it. Chouji came up to me when I was checking off homework this morning, started stroking my shoulder, and asked in a low presumably-seductive voice, how I was doing." She shrugged. "I threw him out for inappropriate behavior."

"I think our youthful Romeo should also be reported to guidance," Gai offered, "for he should not be displaying such ungentlemanly behavior. That is a breach in many ways. It is unfortunate that our society states quite firmly that teachers and students cannot be left alone, nor can they hug or touch each other in any way. Be careful, Kurenai, for while our administration will support such youthful educators as ourselves, you may be questioned, despite the fact that the student touched you, not the other way around."

"I know," Kurenai nodded. "That's why I threw him out. When I called the office, I gave them the run down. Plus, I have Haruno Sakura, Yamanka Ino, and Hyuuga Hinata who saw the event. I'll be fine."

Kakashi made a mental note to go down to the office after school and investigate. While the story itself was amusing, he was going to have to dig up some insurance for his teammate. What a lousy way to end the week. At least next week was only three days.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Another setup chapter. After Naruto's arc, we needed something lighter and less flavored. Though I do admit, the idea of Iruka as Dorothy is genius. :D It was a good spot to start setting up the social structure of the grade - both because each group of kids/grades/classes have their own personalities, and because it starts spinning other plates for later in the year, particularly something that happens in January.

More plate spinning in this chapter, can you count all the threads we touched upon?


	7. Week 6

**October: Week Six**

* * *

The noteworthy event didn't happen in Team Time that Monday; it happened after school. During Team Time, Kakashi had brought in his old military jackets for Kurenai and her seamstress mother. Apparently the woman had handmade all of Kurenai's old Halloween costumes, and the idea of a modern ninja set off all kinds of ideas in her head. 

The gift was accepted gratefully, and frankly, Kakashi was glad to be rid of them. It had felt good to get rid of a painful reminder of his past. He wanted to keep his reminders very select and very private, and the old uniforms had actually briefly managed to bring back some of the few good memories of the military that he had; Obito before his was killed, specifically, and it was nice to remember those happy times for the ever-brief moment. But it had quickly been followed by the _other_ memories, and Kakashi knew he could no longer keep the old uniforms. His earlier life was better kept in certain places: the memorial, the smell of gunpowder, the searing hot days, and the ever-present feelings of regret, guilt, and pain.

Only Gai really noticed the tight look on his face as he handed the old jackets over, and immediately gushed about what a wonderful nonmilitary function such a life-saving jacket could to, and all the happy memories it would make.

Iruka had thrown an odd glance at Gai, curious about the meaning, but the social studies teacher didn't acknowledge and Kakashi certainly didn't offer. Gai and Asuma were the only ones who had seen Kakashi when he first started teaching, and the three of them privately agreed that it wasn't a time to talk about.

It was a three-day week to begin with, in celebration of Veteran's Day, and the memories were coming up with more frequency. Kakashi knew himself well enough to delegate his classes to written and book work, innately sensing that his brain wouldn't be at a full enough capacity to handle the brats. Iruka took over as teacher for his last two classes of the day, sensing his partner's brooding mindset. There was a question on his face; he wanted to ask what was wrong but at the same time understood that he wouldn't get an answer until Kakashi was good and ready to explain the subtle signs of melancholy.

The special education teacher lingered after class, fumbling through the folders he always brought as an excuse. Kakashi saw the frequent glances his way, and finally gave a heavy sigh. "I'm fine, Iruka," he offered. The English teacher sat at his overstuffed desk and leaned back in his wheeled chair. Obito's face was filling his field of vision, and he forcibly held his face in casual indifference.

"You're not fine," Iruka replied, frowning. "But I won't pry. If you need an ear, I'm across the hall."

"... Thank you."

Iruka left and Kakashi could already hear him sternly lecturing Naruto and Kiba, who'd arrived for their detentions, Takato's name filtering up soon after.

The automatic timer on the lights finally kicked in, and the room grayed out. The sky outside was overcast, and half the blinds were drawn, giving the room a silent, heavy presence. Iruka meant well, and honestly, Kakashi felt deeply glad for the man's camaraderie. Iruka was the quintessential Nice Guy (Gai's pose aside), and was always looking out for his other teammates. It was refreshing in a way, most men Kakashi knew in his life, most of the teachers in the building, had a selfishness about them; something that they adamantly adhered to in spite of whatever was thrown at them. Very, _very_, few people were nice nowadays without expecting something in return. Iruka was one of the few, joining ranks with only Sandaime and possibly Jiraiya.

Kakashi was a man who let very few people in. Loss was an old companion, and if he could say that he was scared of something, that would be it. Too many loved ones fell under the word, and Kakashi wasn't sure he could go through something like that again without going completely insane. The scarred eye was stinging, and he rubbed at it irritably. "Come on, Obito," he muttered, "Give me a break."

Only Gai had managed to pass the complicated obstacle course of Kakashi's design and entered the otherwise empty realm of Friend. Gai's bravado in the face of _everything_, his unyielding declaration of rivaldom, his constant challenges and his ridiculous attempts to get into Kakashi's head, generated the uncharacteristic feeling of _likable_ to Kakashi, a sensation he'd only felt with four other people in his life. Five, if you included Iruka. Gai didn't pretend to understand the complexities of Kakashi, but he understood the _moods_, and personally and without thought put himself through hell to drag Kakashi out of it.

Iruka, too, was starting to get a sense of his moods. As controlled as Kakashi may have been, something would always give you away, and Iruka was starting to pick up on them. The special education teacher, too, radiated the term likable, and Kakashi was beginning to wonder if he would eventually cross the finish line. But not now. Not now. Obito was filling his head, blood and rocks and explosions and violence. A missing eye. A dying request. A--

"SIT DOWN RIGHT NOW!!"

Kakashi had forgotten just how loud Iruka could be when he wanted to. Sitting up, the English teacher paused to listen.

"Naruto, I said sit down! Finish writing your letter of apology! Kiba, give me those earphones, I told you I wouldn't allow that. Takato! Get back here this instant!"

Ah, children.

Kakashi rubbed at his burning eye and stood up, the lights turning on when they detected his motion. He walked purposely out of his room and grabbed a fistful of cloth that, coincidentally, belonged to the shirt of Takato. Without a word he stepped into Iruka's room, the boy dragging in behind.

"Are you having any problems, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked in his singsong voice. Naruto was seated at his desk, a piece of paper in front of him but no pencil. Kiba was standing in his chair, earphones dangling over his head and Iruka right in front of him, in a futile effort to get the said object. "Maa," he appended, "Perhaps I should ask how many problems are you having?" He deposited the boy in his fist on a seat and closed the door. Walking over to Iruka's desk, he grabbed a set of scissors and tossed them to Iruka. "If the headphones bother you, I always make a point of cutting them."

Iruka blinked, taking a minute to absorb the information, before grinning evilly. "I'd never thought of that, thank you Kakashi-sensei."

The brown head of Kiba paled visibly. "You wouldn't dare! That's destruction of personal property! I'll call the cops on you!"

"Oh, really?" Iruka asked, still smiling menacingly. "Then I can happily tell them that earphones are considered contraband in this school, and I'm sure they'd be most interested to hear that I gave you not one, not two, but three chances to put them away. Now, are you going to put them away, or am I going to cut them?"

They quickly disappeared into a pocket after that.

Takato was next. "And what!" Iruka demanded, "Makes you think you can just leave my room without permission?"

"I had to go to the bathroom! I have a right to take a piss!"

"Not in detention you don't!" Iruka yelled, his voice half an octave below shrill.

"Piss in the trash can," Kiba offered. Naruto giggled at the thought. Kakashi and Iruka both looked at them and offered a level glare; they clamped up immediately, leaving Iruka to turn back to the irate Takato.

"There are rules in place for a reason," Iruka started, his voice much calmer. "Students don't go to the bathroom until the last five minutes of class for a reason, it disrupts the class and jumps the flow of learning."

"Yeah, because we 'flow' in our pants," Takato muttered.

Iruka sighed. "Alright, fine, you can be unreasonable if you want. You are now forbidden from going to the bathroom in my class. Do it in passing time, or every time you ask you'll get a detention from me, and you cannot go to the bathroom after school. And if you ever," he added, "try to leave my room without permission, you will be written up so fast your parents will wonder what happened. Then I'll happily tell them about our consistent insubordination, and you can explain to them why you're trying to ruin your future."

"Over taking a piss?!" the boy demanded.

"You now have another detention with me," Iruka said, "for talking about going to the bathroom."

"This is fucking stupid!"

"A second detention for foul language. Do you want to dig your hole any deeper?"

The boy finally quieted, his face still furious.

"Kiba, you have a second detention for instigating."

"What?!"

Iruka leveled a flat, I'm-fed-up-with-you-don't-even-try-it glare, and the boy quickly closed his mouth, afraid of further retribution.

"And Naruto?"

"Y-yes, sensei?" Naruto squealed, standing up and clearly petrified of whatever wrath Iruka was ready to inflict.

"Finish you're letter of apology!"

"Y-yes, sensei!!"

Kakashi grinned. "It looks like you don't need me anymore, Iruka-sensei."

"No, Kakashi-sensei," he replied genially. "Thank you for your earlier assistance."

"Of course. If ever you need new ideas on how to torture students, let me know. I'm a pro." Kakashi delivered a professional smile, and Iruka returned it in full force.

"I have my own stock, sensei, we can review them together sometime. I think the students would benefit from it."

"I'm sure they would." Kakashi laughed as he left.

* * *

Kakashi looked haggard Wednesday, and even Iruka did not make a proclamation of his perpetual tardiness. Asuma and Gai exchanged worried glances as their team leader sank into his chair and slouched. It was deeper than normal, and Kakashi tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, presumably to count the number of dots on the drop tiles and calculate the average number of dots per square foot of a room. He did that once, and after Asuma had stopped gaping at him had used it as a lesson to the students that math was everywhere. They were staring at the ceiling for days after that, trying to keep count and astonished that the _English_ teacher had done it. 

"Kakashi," Iruka asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Sure."

"You know how much I hate that word."

"Sure."

"Kakashi..."

"Not now, Iruka. Not now."

"It's a tough time of year for our beloved English teacher," Gai said, offering his patented Nice Guy pose. "It is one of those times that he is at his most infantile; where he sulks and skulks until his mind can be put at ease." Gai went on to regale Iruka and Kurenai about the various competitions that he and Kakashi had gone through, in vivid and exciting detail. The topic of conversation ignored it, closing his eyes and falling headlong into his memories. Not even Gai knew everything that happened in those days, and the year after service when he'd lost even more, and the memories toiled through him darkly, churning at the base of his skull and burning his newer - frankly better - eye. The world seemed very heavy; he couldn't even lift his hands to read his book.

"Oh, that's right; good news," Asuma said lightly. "My A period got their first Academic Excellence award. I need to make copies of the tickets."

Kurenai blinked. "You mean Nara Shikamaru actually turns in homework for you?"

"Last week he did," Asuma said, grinning. "It's amazing what bribery will do."

"Bribery?"

"I told him he couldn't play shogi until he started doing his homework."

"Yes!" Gai responded expansively, giving a thumbs up. "Our illustrious mathematics teacher is renowned about the school for his ability to bribe students into doing what they want!"

"At least I'm honest about it. Genma tries to cover up his bribery, call it something else. Never works."

"That reminds me," Gai interjected, a sudden toothy grin on his face. "I believe I may have found a way to get this particular collection of youth to excel. After seeing the dance and their competitive spirit, I implemented an idea I had: competition pairs. I have never seen such an overall acceptance and enjoyment of a concept such as this. Their behavior is extraordinary!" He paused, letting the information sink in. "But, I will wait until their test Tuesday before saying for certain if things are going well."

"That's your first test isn't it?" Iruka asked, writing it all down. "How will you know?"

Gai grinned. "Oh, I will know," he said.

"What's the professional development?" Kurenai asked. She looked expectantly at Kakashi, who was oblivious to it all.

"Curriculum development," Asuma said quickly but casually. "There was an email on it this morning. There'll be some kind of guest speaker on integration of subjects, and then the afternoon is going to be a vertical curriculum meeting. Meaning nothing will get done."

"At the risk of sounding naive," Kurenai started, "how can you be so sure?"

"Because we've had these before," Iruka stated, frowning as he looked at Kakashi. "The elementary school are nice enough, the teachers try hard. But they have to teach all the subjects, and really, they're more focused on things like motor development and behavior structuring; they just don't have the time to look at the national curriculum standards for, say, the NCTM and have time for the other subjects _and_ have time for the students themselves. And the high school!" Iruka made a distinctly rude face. "They're too busy trying to keep their students _alive_, let alone clean and sober, to have time to deal with curriculum. And their staff isn't as... how do I put this..."

"Good?" Asuma offered, a wry grin on his face.

"Positive," Iruka said over the math teacher, "as we are. The administration keeps changing, and the teachers are all tired and worn out and stretched too thin. The environment up there is completely different."

The math teacher continued. "What's going to happen is this: we're all going to get together; the high school is going to bitch about why the kids don't know anything, we're going to defend ourselves, and the elementary teachers are just going to look lost. That's just what's going to happen, no matter how hard any of us try."

Kurenai sighed. "How awful."

There was a period of silence.

"Well," she tried again. "On a lighter topic, what's everyone doing for Veteran's Day?"

Asuma and Gai stiffened, glancing at the seemingly asleep English teacher, but Iruka had already answered.

"I'm going to visit my uncle. If it doesn't rain, we'll have the last cookout of the year."

"Really? We're doing something similar. I have a whole clan of aunts and uncles and cousins. We all get together at our grandparents and bring something to eat. There's probably going to be badminton and volleyball and tag football for the boys. Mother and I are going to try to sneak into a quiet room and work on the ninja costumes; they're going to be fabulous, but it's a lot of work."

"I'm going to a game," Asuma said. "Don't know which one, yet, but I'm going to a game."

"And I will be cleaning out my house of the last vestibules of dirt before the winter season."

"I see," Kurenai said. "And you, Kakashi?"

He opened his eyes and leveled an even glance at her. "I'll be visiting a friend."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Holidays like this are meant to be with people."

Kakashi said nothing, but he felt something in his chest clench. He wondered if a memorial with a friends name on it counted as "people." Nausea suddenly over-swept him, and the Scarecrow quietly got up and left before he wretched right in front of them.

He missed the professional development day.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Kakashi chapter! We'll be having a few of them over the course of the year. It seemed obvious that holidays like Veteran's Day would bother him deeply, having a military background himself. Incidentally, he's the only teacher on this team that does (then what about Iruka's scar, you ask? Well, keep reading! ) It was really interesting to get in his head like that, especially since his life here is different from his life in the Naruto world; most of it translated very well. For example, he wouldn't have time to visit the memorial every day, but this makes it a bit more poignant, and his emotional wounds aren't as healed in this world as they might be in the anime/manga. A teacher's world is very full, and to have emotions like this sweep over you suddenly is very hard to deal with because you can't show them to the students. 

And yet again more plate spinning.

** TigerZahn**: You expressed concern about Chouji being out of character in the last chapter. And you're right. While Chouji would be a pain in class (we've seen him stay after with Iruka in the series), for him to hit on Kurenai in the last chapter was completely uncalled for (even if that has happened to one of us). However, Chouji being so out there was very deliberate. It was a spinning of his plate for later in the year. No worries. It has a reason.


	8. Week 7

**October: Week Seven**

* * *

Once the weekend was over, Kakashi had shaken off most of the melancholia that he'd suffered through for Veteran's Day. So when Monday came, he was more or less back to his old self. Iruka still threw the occasionally worried glance his way and Kurenai acted in a surprisingly perceptive manner and checked in on him during homeroom. 

"I'm fine," Kakashi replied from his slouched position in his chair.

She looked sternly down at him. "You weren't acting fine last week."

Kakashi smiled sadly and shook his head. "I'm over the worst of it, Kurenai-sensei. Don't worry yourself."

The science teacher sighed. "Fine, fine," she said before dropping something on his desk. "For good luck." Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked at the miniature origami crane before smiling more sincerely.

"Thanks," he said, putting the mini-crane just under his monitor were the students wouldn't take it and it wouldn't get buried under the normal junk that covered Kakashi's desk.

"Sure thing," Kurenai replied, her long hair swishing as she left his room. She paused briefly at the door, speaking to someone, nodding, and leaving as Ebisu, their illustrious vice principal, walked in.

"Hello, Ebisu-sensei," Kakashi greeted, leaning further back in his chair. "What can I do for you this morning?" The English teacher couldn't help but smile. His homeroom had quieted once the vice principal had come in. Ah, fearing authority. Or at least wanting to hear if someone was in trouble. The desire for gossip never changed, after all.

Speaking quietly, Ebisu stated, "Two things, Kakashi-sensei. One, we're having a drill today. Two, I need to speak with Gaara for a moment. Has he appeared yet?"

The Scarecrow glanced around. "Sorry, Ebisu-sensei, I don't think he's here yet."

Ebisu nodded, not at all looking surprised. "When he does show up, send him to me right away."

"Of course," Kakashi agreed. "Anything else I need to know?"

The vice principal looked down his nose. "No, Kakashi-sensei. I hope to see Gaara in my office soon."

Kakashi nodded and once the arrogant man had left his room, he glanced around. He needed a student that was reliable and either needed a task to keep them out of trouble, or a task to raise their confidence level. Getting up, he squeezed between his desk at the back corner of his room and the couch and leaned over to Hyuuga Hinata. "Pardon me," he said, handing over his gradebook, "can you take attendance for me?"

"Umm, uh," she stammered.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you."

Attendance taken care off, Kakashi slipped out of his room and checked in with everyone on his team. He let all of them know to be on the look out for Gaara (Kakashi suspected the quiet kid was skipping or absent today) and to let them know they'd be through a fire drill today. Fire drills were mandated once a month in their district, and the drill they'd done last month hadn't had any major issues other than no advanced warning.

Team Time during E Period was quiet, taking care of a lot of the tedium that Kakashi hadn't been in the proper mind frame to deal with last week. His excuse for being late was simply that he'd been hunting down one of the eighth grade English teachers to see what he missed during professional development. Since the previous week had only three days, food hadn't been brought in. So, Kakashi hoped that his Italian offerings were enough for his reclusive behavior under the excuse that it was because they didn't get to eat properly last week.

After E Period, however, was interesting. He and Iruka were having the students diagram sentences, a teaching method from decades ago that Kakashi saw immense value in. Just because new teaching methods appeared didn't always mean that the old needed to be discarded, and it gave the students a chance to see how sentence structure was formed and how it could vary.

"Will the Symtex repairman please call the office for a test."

That was the announcement and Kakashi was moving as soon as he had heard "Symtex".

"Iruka, behind my desk." With Iruka ushering the students to his no-student zone, Kakashi pulled out his keys, went to his door, and locked it. Quickly glancing in the halls, he saw Maname walking by. "Maname," he called, "get in here now."

"I have to go the nurse!" she pleaded.

"Now!" Kakashi stated more firmly. Shocked that the Scarecrow used such a forceful tone (he _never_ did), she didn't question him again and scurried into his room. Once that was done, Kakashi slammed his door, took a poster he had velcro-ed next to the door and placed it over the window before finally flipping off the lights. Walking back along the wall towards his desk, he pulled one of his bookshelves from the wall to make an obstruction from the door, and then did the same with his couch before settling by his desk with Iruka and his students.

Grand total? Kakashi glanced at his watch. Eleven seconds. Good.

The reason for the flurry of activity? They were in a practice lockdown. The announcement was the code for a lockdown, and the addition of "for a test" meant that this was a drill. Frowning briefly, Kakashi wished that Ebisu had specified what kind of "drill" they were going to do this morning. But then, Ebisu could leave out important details like that.

Lockdowns were something that Kakashi had put a lot of thought into when designing the layout of his room, though one wouldn't know that by looking at it. After all, the English teacher's military experience gave him some good ideas on fortifying a position. His "desk" was a combination of two folding tables, one jutting out from the back wall, the other at an angle. It made Kakashi's no-student-zone and the only way behind was by squeezing between the couch and the angled table. Under the tables, Kakashi kept his refrigerator, microwave and file cabinets. Because of that, it made seeing behind his desk when students were crouched low difficult. The easily moved poster by the door, the bookcase and sofa were further barriers, and the table jutting out from the wall was clear underneath in case students needed to scurry away.

This lockdown was also a reminder that he'd have to get Kurenai into a sign language class. It was something that Kakashi paid for out of his own pocket, but any paraprofessional or teacher on his team would know sign language in case they needed to discuss something. After all, the Scarecrow, of all people, knew how silence could save a life.

He glanced over at Iruka, who was already signing. "_I thought you said it'd be a fire drill._"

"_Ebisu said 'drill'. I assumed. Does Kurenai have any paras with her this period?_"

"_No, she's solo right now._"

Kakashi grimaced. "_Do you know what students are with her?_"

Iruka shook his head.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Kakashi looked around at his students. So far, so good. He wondered how long until they got bored and started whispering. Granted, this was a drill, and the students probably thought it was a drill as well, but one thing they were going to learn was that Kakashi treated every drill like it was the real thing. It was training of a sort.

"Ino," he whispered, using precise control of his voice to only let it travel as far as it needed to, "sit down. We don't know how long this will take."

"Sensei!" she whined. "I'm wearing white pants. I don't want to get them dirty!"

Despite having worked with children for years, Kakashi took a moment to be completely shocked by the stupidity of that statement.

"So you'd rather have your pristine white pants covered in blood?"

Ino scowled. "Kakashi-sensei, it's just a drill."

Iruka shook his head. "Drill or not, we treat it like it's real. Silence is paramount, as well as staying low. Now sit down or you'll be spending tomorrow with me after school and Wednesday with Kakashi after school."

Huffing, Ino slumped, squashing the hands of the two next to her, Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Sensei," Naruto turned to the special education teacher, "What does 'paramount' mean?"

Kakashi signed, "_Pass him a dictionary._"

Nodding, Iruka reached up to the stack of dictionaries kept on the English teacher's desk, and passed one to the student.

"But how do you spell it?" Beside the blond, Sasuke snorted and Sakura huffed, grabbing the dictionary, flipping through the pages, and pointed out the word. "Oh."

"Shh!" Temari hissed from between Gaara and Kankuro, "Don't you know the meaning of the word 'silence'?"

"Temari," Kakashi whispered. "Do you want to stay with me tomorrow after school?"

Grumbling something, the blond girl quieted.

Now, drill or not, trying to have twenty-plus kids sit and do nothing and say nothing for an untold number of minutes was asking for trouble. However, the students had been through lockdown drills before, and aside from the initial conversation, Kakashi was rather pleased with how the students were behaving. So, while waiting to hear an administrator come down the hall and open doors, Kakashi let his thoughts wander. Something from last week's unpleasant place had penetrated into his brain and was starting to make it turn. Gai had mentioned about competitiveness throughout the grade. So the English teacher directed his thoughts to his various classes, thinking about literary groups and who to put with whom.

As the quiet continued, Kakashi started to sign back and forth with Iruka, discussing possible groups, plans, etc. Iruka was more or less able to keep up, but his signing skills weren't in very good practice. By contrast, Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma had gone through a sing language course together and were much better. The paraprofessionals weren't bad, but like Iruka, they were often out of practice.

"_Iruka, you need practice. Speak sign with your paras to keep in practice._"

The special education teacher just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Compared to the excitement of a lockdown (okay, lockdowns are boring. Compared to the sudden change), Tuesday was relatively dull. Gai came in with samples of tests from his first two periods that he'd already graded and was ecstatic to show the _significant_ difference that his competitive pairing had created. It wasn't just that the more recent material was recent; no, you could see that kind of difference on any of the tests that Gai brought in from years previous. This was a major difference between regular learning and competitive pairing. 

Naturally, Gai wanted to encourage such rivalries. "We should continue our pursuit in utilizing our students' youth to further their education!"

"We heard you the first time," Kakashi drawled. "I've already been thinking of doing literary groups and Iruka and I have already come up with some group choices for our last two periods." The Scarecrow smiled. "The lockdown actually gave us some team ideas."

Kurenai sat back, thinking. "Granted, I already have lab groups, but I wonder how I can use that for competitiveness?"

Asuma shrugged. "Until I can think of something a bit more concrete, I may make a class version of A Period Excellence, so at least they're doing their work. I'll see how that goes and then I can expand. I need to think of a prize other than Homework Tickets, though."

Together, they brainstormed ways for Kurenai and Asuma to try and pick up the competitive theme, but ultimately, Kakashi believed that if the kids could get into the competitiveness, then they'd create their own. He started listing some of his literary group ideas and Gai immediately remarked on how Kakashi's thoughts on groups were similar to the ones that he'd come up with. If there were "standard" groups across the team, it might end up as "study groups" to pick up on subjects were the competition wasn't as well implemented. In any event, it was worth a try. As Kakashi would say if asked, he'd do just about anything to get the students into learning. "By the way, in case you haven't heard it over the announcements," the Scarecrow added, looking to their science teacher, "Spirit Week is next week. Monday will be school colors: Blue and Silver; Tuesday will be Hat day; Wednesday will be 'Sports' Day where you were the cloths of your favorite team; Thursday will be Twin Day; and Friday will be for Halloween costumes. Make sure your kids in homeroom know that every day they must still be appropriately dressed for school."

Kurenai nodded. "I remember when the sex-kittens and French maids came in for Halloween at my old school. I doubt middle schoolers would do that, but I'll be firm."

Nodding, they went back to brainstorming.

* * *

After their plan, Kakashi lingered to talk to Iruka briefly, making the both of them late for the beginning of F Period. Iruka grumbled and Kakashi smiled as they rounded the corner to his room. The students were already starting with the warm-up that was on the board (most of them, anyway), since Kakashi had trained them well during his first month with them. Once it was reviewed, the English teacher took great delight in dividing them into the teams that he had discussed during lockdown with Iruka. 

Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro started the groups with Team 1; Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura formed Team 7; Hinata, Shino, and Kiba were team 8; and Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji rounded things off in Team 10. Some of the teams were only pairs, by what Kakashi and Iruka had agreed upon due to various dispositions.

When the class heard the list of teams, they naturally revolted.

Ino was the first voice to be heard over the din. "Why can't I be in Sasuke's Team?"

"You put me with two mutes!" Kiba shouted.

"Why is Naruto with me and Sasuke!"

"Iruka-sensei, why am I with that stoic teme??"

"Hn."

"What the hell kinda grouping is this?" That was Temari.

"Why put me with this troublesome girl?"

Ino glared at Shikamaru before shouting out once more, "Why am I with two speds? I'll be doing all the work!"

The glare Kakashi and Iruka gave shut up the entire class.

"Okay," Iruka calmly and clearly stated, "many of you don't like your Teams. Tough. In the real world, you can't leave a job just because you dislike your coworkers, you'll be unemployed more than employed. These are your groups, treat them with respect and live with it."

Nodding, the Scarecrow added, "Because I won't listen to any complaints from now on." He glanced at Iruka and nodded, going to one of his many bookshelves to start getting the books for the new unit they would start.

Iruka continued, detailing how grading would start to work. "There are going to be two grades for each assignment. The Team grade, and the individual grade. There are 15 possible points available depending on how your Team grade is, that will act as a bonus on any assignment you choose. Similarly, there is a total of 15 possible points available based on your individual grade, that is reserved for tests and quizzes. You're going to have to excel both as a Team and individually in order to help boost whatever you think needs help."

While Iruka continued to detail the assignment and grading, Kakashi passed out books for each literary group and gave a detention to Ino for such disrespectful language. He also paused with some of the groups who had had more legitimate concerns and briefly spoke with them to clear the air. Once that was done and the special education teacher had finished explaining the assignment, Iruka stated, "Teams 1 through 5, come with me to my room." And thus came the loud shuffling and screeching of chairs moving and books being gathered as Iruka took half the class and those remaining started to get together in their groups.

Kakashi merely sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and opened his ears. The first voices he picked out were from Teams 6 and 9, who were sitting near each other and talking a cross between gossip and switching members. So, Kakashi crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed, letting it land squarely in-between their desks. "Team 6 and Time 9, separate yourselves and don't even think about 'trading' people."

"How does he _do_ that?" one of the girls grumbled. Kakashi just smiled blithely.

Sitting back again, the Scarecrow let his ears flow over the groups. Now that Teams 6 and 9 were separated, they were doing much better about discussing what they needed for the assignment. Team 7, however, specifically Sakura, caught his ear next. Since that team was right in front of his desk, Kakashi listened to the byplay, considering for a moment. Finally deciding that Sakura was mature for her age, he took a gamble and called her over.

"Sakura, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

"How much do you know about your teammates?"

"Huh?"

"For example, do you know what happened over the summer to Sasuke?"

"Yes," she said slowly, not seeing where this was going. "He lost his parents."

Nodding, Kakashi continued, "Do you know what happened to Naruto just a few weeks ago?"

"Not really. Everyone knows he changed foster parents again, but nobody knows what he did this time."

Good. Sandaime's request to teachers to not discuss Naruto was honored. Unfortunately, Naruto's long-standing lack of status with his peers was injuring him in that regard as well. "He didn't do anything, Sakura. If either he or Sasuke choose to tell you about what happens in their lives, that will be their choice. However, _you_ are the only example of what stability is for them right now. _Neither_ of them is ready for any sort of relationship outside of friendship, because they're dealing with too much right now. So I strongly recommend that you think about what you say with them. Be yourself, yes, but treat _both_ of them respectfully. Do that and you'll avoid most problems in your team."

Sakura's jaw had long since dropped, no doubt shocked at the level of consideration that went into Kakashi and Iruka's choices of teams.

"Don't change yourself, Sakura. Just don't go for things they can't offer."

Still somewhat awestruck, the young girl walked back to her team in a daze.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, what did Kakashi-sensei want?"

That shook the pink haired girl out of her shock as she turned to Naruto. "Kakashi had some questions about an assignment I had turned in. I straightened everything out."

"That's good, now can you explain this assignment to me again, I think I'm still missing something."

"Dobe."

"Teme! What did you say?"

Sakura sighed, suddenly looking very much like a mother dealing with two toddlers. Slowly and patiently, she went through the assignment details for Naruto, while Sasuke started reading the book that Kakashi had given their group. Once she finished, Sakura issued what was probably the best challenge anyone ever could. "I bet that Sasuke will understand this book better than you, Naruto!"

"Hah!" the blond replied. "I'll show you I'm just as good as he is!"

"Prove it," Sakura demanded, an evil grin quirking at her lips. "Read it and then both of you come over to my house this afternoon and we'll discuss the book. Then we'll see."

Kakashi smiled. Sakura was still proving that she preferred Sasuke over Naruto, but in a perceptive twist, she used the competition to get Naruto quiet and reading for the remainder of class. Kakashi briefly wished he could visit Sakura's house after school as well, because he just _knew_ that Naruto would surprise both Sasuke and Sakura with what he understood from the book. That was the spark of maturity he had seen in her. Gai was definitely onto something with this competition approach.

The next team that caught his ears was Team 8. For a brief moment, the Scarecrow was surprised he hadn't heard them earlier, after all Kiba was in the team. But then he smiled to himself, because the quiet and reserved Hinata and Shino had the effect that Kakashi had hoped for. Kiba quieted, especially since Gai had set up Kiba and Shino in his class. While Kiba wasn't thrilled, he kept quieter with Shino and when he got insulting, it was amusing to watch Hinata visibly flinch which provoked an apologetic response from the special education student. Iruka had been right, Kiba didn't mean to be so brash; it was just a reaction to how things were going on in his life.

"Sorry, Hinata," Kiba quietly apologized.

"Umm, it's okay, Kiba. I'm really _not_ all that special..." Kakashi made a mental note to see if Hinata needed to be recommended to one of Jiraiya's confidence-building classes. Hinata's guidance counselor may be listed as Orochimaru, but Kakashi suspected the quiet child would be better off with Jiraiya.

"Getting back on topic," Shino interrupted. "How much should we have read by tomorrow?" He flipped through the book. "I could probably be halfway through it by then."

"What?" Kiba exclaimed. "No way!! First chapter at most!"

The quiet Shino turned his head. "We'll never finish the book on time if we do that pace."

The rough boy slumped. "I know that, but I don't have time after school to read. The only time I'll get is in this class. You two may have SSR, but I'm in Resource getting other assignments done."

"M-m-maybe, we could meet with you before school?" Hinata suggested.

Kiba growled. "I'll be too busy getting breakfast. You know how loud it gets in the cafeteria. I'd never be able to concentrate."

Shino sighed as Hinata just stared at her notebook. "You're going to have to tell us when you can find time, Kiba. If our suggestions don't work, tell us what will."

Frowning, the rough boy thought it over and Kakashi patiently waited to see how he'd solve this little dilemma. If what Tsunade had said at the beginning of the year was correct, Kiba was probably spending every waking moment after school doing odd jobs to try and bring in money for him and his father. Naturally, the question was: What would Kiba do?

Growling again, Kiba rubbed at his eyes. "Tell you what, you two meet me here early and bring me breakfast. I'll read and then we can talk. If it works out, I should be able to get maybe three chapters done without distractions."

"Th-that's reasonable," Hinata stated when it looked like Shino might object to the small amount of reading that'd be done.

"Okay," Shino agreed. "Let's see if we can get more chapters out of you by starting to read now."

"Then we'd better go to the library," Kiba stated flatly. "There's too much noise here, and Iruka-sensei's room will be worse by now."

Kakashi had the passes written before Shino had even come to his desk.

"Sensei, how...?"

"Go on," Kakashi smiled. "You're loosing good reading time." It was encouraging to see Kiba had enough knowledge of self to know what he needed in order to get assignments done. Other special education students, like Ryoko, wanted everything spoon-fed and would throw a tantrum if you didn't give the answer to the question. Kiba, however, knew his limitations and how to work with them; he just wasn't inclined to do so very often. With good students like Shino and Hinata as his teammates, however, he was going to _have_ to work with them and keep up and he knew it. Kakashi didn't miss the glare Kiba had thrown to him and chuckled evilly in response. Students could be so much fun.

Crumpling another paper, he tossed it onto the back of one of Team 6's heads. "Back to work," he stated calmly as the stared, once more shocked, that he had caught them gossiping.

Team 10, Ino Shikamaru, and Chouji was the last team to catch his ears. Mainly because they weren't talking. That meant that they had just been sitting there doing nothing for ten minutes. Right. Getting up, Kakashi pulled up a chair next to their team and waited.

"Sensei, I really don't think this team is going to work," Ino started.

"You can say that again," Chouji mumbled. Shikamaru just snorted.

"Why?"

Ino's cheeks reddened in anger. "Why? Because you put Billboard Brow with Sasuke and me with two idiots!"

"Another detention," Kakashi deadpanned. "Same reason as before."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. And this time Chouji snorted.

"Alright, I know why Ino will have trouble with this team and why this team will have trouble with Ino." Said girl glared, not daring to do anything to get a third detention. "Shikamaru, Chouji, do you two have some reason to not work together?"

"No," Chouji said, "Shikamaru's always helping me in Resource anyway."

The Scarecrow nodded, he knew that Iruka had often paired them, which was why they were together in this team. Ino, however, was being a bitch.

"Then why don't we do this: you two can work together and get the team grade and the individual grade points. Ino will work by herself and get no chances at the bonus points available."

"SENSEI! That's not _fair_!" Of course, that got the entire class's attention, but Kakashi merely focused in on the blond. If she wanted everyone to hear about this, then fine. That was her choice to make rather than coming to him privately.

"Ino," he stated flatly, standing up and getting the advantage of height (always use any advantage to your disposal), "this is school. An institution. We have rules and you don't get much of a right in what they are--"

"Kurenai-sensei let us come up with the rules in her class," Ino retorted.

"--and you can get written up for insubordination, just like you can get dragged into a meeting with your superior in the military for insubordination. If a commanding officer gives you an order, you do it because if you don't you'll be court marshaled. If a teacher gives you a directive, you do it because if you don't, you'll be written up.

"Get off this high horse of yours, Ino. You don't have a leg to stand on. Everyday, you'll be asked to work with people you may not like. That doesn't mean you blow off the job; you'll get fired. That doesn't mean you insult your coworkers; you'll get fired. That doesn't mean you do shoddy work; you'll get fired and sued. Not everything is going to go your way. This is your team, and if you want any chance at those bonus points, proving you're better than other students, whatever your goal is, you're going to have to _work_ with them. I'm just sorry that Shikamaru and Chouji have to put up with someone as cold-hearted as you."

Challenge leveled at the blond, she glared at him.

"Now get out. Say â€˜hi' to Ebisu-sensei for me. And you have a third detention with me for insubordination."

Ino grabbed her books, huffing and growling. When she was at the door, Kakashi called out, "By the way. You're the one who wouldn't come to me in private about this, so you're the one who had this dealt with in front of the class. Owe up to what you do."

She gave him the finger as she left. Fine, she dug her hole deeper each time. Kakashi grinned He'd have a lot to share at Team Time tomorrow. He couldn't wait to see what Iruka had to say.

* * *

Friday was relatively quiet, aside from one little fact that many of the students had been looking forward to all week: hall decoration. As part of the whole "spirit week," well, spirit, the grades were assigned to decorate their section of the halls. On Halloween, the end of spirit week, "judges" would decide which grade did the best and give them a prize. The students took the competition very seriously, and it was the general consensus amongst the teachers that it was hell on earth. 

Kakashi loved it, however, for the reason that he loved most public gatherings: information. The English teacher hated dances for various and numerous reasons (most of which Never to Be Mentioned in Public), but more organized gatherings like hall decoration for spirit week and student council were always graced by his presence. Hall decoration was usually populated with the upper echelon students - the ones who already planned to be doctors and lawyers and got good grades and were ambitious in politics. Haruno Sakura was, technically, in charge of her team's half of the seventh grade hall. She was the student council secretary, and absolutely _loved_ these kinds of things. When the various students gathered in Asuma's room after school, she'd already had a plan for how to decorate the hall. It included ribbons, banners, balloons, and a poster of the school mascot.

Amongst the collection of grade-getters were a few surprise students: Chouji, Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke most noticeably. Of them, Naruto and Sasuke didn't look particularly thrilled to be there. Sakura went over to them quickly, saying that they'd go straight to her house after this, but that she absolutely _must_ take part in this. Kakashi grinned to himself but said nothing.

"Okay, everyone!" she said loudly to get their attention. It didn't work, of course, so Asuma stood up on a chair and bellowed.

"Oooooooooooooooooooii!" Asuma was the only man Kakashi knew of that could hit the right pitch of that call to make it grate on anyone's nerves. It was the vocal equivalence to nails on a chalkboard.

"Okay everyone," Sakura tried again, a bright smile on her face one of the few hints of her crackling excitement. "Last year we lost horribly to this year's eighth graders, so we have to do our very best this year, right?" There were various grunts of agreement and dissent, but she pressed on. "I have the plans right here, we'll have to divide up into teams. Who's good with blowing up balloons?"

Sakura, Kakashi noted, was a ridiculously organized person. He'd seen signs of it in her neat and almost scripted handwriting, the glances he saw of her notebook in class. She clearly wanted to divvy up the students who arrived into various tasks and then come together to assemble them. Her design was symmetrical, not at all simplistic, but it had certain elegance to it. Her eye for detail and ability to compartmentalize, on top of a keen mind and the beginnings of what promised to be a startling maturity, Sakura would have done magnificently.

Except she didn't quite understand the nature of people. It was one thing to pick good balloon blowers and ribbon curlers, it was another entirely to expect them to do what she said. Friends moved to sit with friends, which automatically dissolved the teams she had just created, everyone was talking and gossiping, and they all wanted a say in the design of the hall. Someone, when Kakashi and Asuma weren't looking, had taken her plans and ripped them up; Sasuke and others just sat on their butts and did nothing; and it wasn't long before the students were wandering and running in and out of the room shouting and poking or trying to fill the balloons with water.

Sakura slumped into a desk, looking dejected. Naruto was nowhere to be seen, presumably off with Kiba and Chouji making water balloons. Sasuke threw her a bored glance and asked, "Can we go yet?"

The look on the girl's face was one of someone about to break, and Kakashi decided to step in and intervene. "Maa," he drawled, slouching in a desk in front of her. "Even the best laid plans of mice and women; ne, Sakura? Some people just have no concept of organization. Some people have no concept of consideration. And some people," he threw a deliberate glance to Sasuke, "have no idea of all the work and thought and time and effort you put into it; how much it meant to you to do good." He noted with a healthy (if hidden) amount of satisfaction the shamed look that Sasuke grew.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto ran into the room. "Look at how many balloons I got!"

Sakura had enough.

"Who cares how many water balloons you made you stupid useless loser!!"

The half dozen students in the room quieted, surprised by the outburst.

"Sakura," Kakashi said softly, "you may want to note that those balloons are filled with air and not water."

"W... What?"

Clutched tightly in his arms, Naruto held close to a dozen inflated balloons, all blue and silver.

"Sakura-chan needed balloon blowers," Naruto muttered, somewhere between shocked and crushed. "I finally learned how a few minutes ago..."

"Naruto..." she whispered. The moment was long, not quite tense but definitely awkward, as the two stared at each other and Sasuke watched them with compete indifference.

Finally, Sakura's head bowed down, she took one of the armloads of balloons. "Do you know where they go?" she asked quietly.

"Uhm, no. I wasn't really paying attention at that part."

"Okay, I'll show you where they go."

The two left to the hall, leaving Kakashi and Sasuke by themselves. The teacher again noted the band-aid on the boy's face. He offered no explanation for it, in fact whenever a student or teacher asked about the band-aid he immediately changes subject. The boy watched Sakura and Naruto with dark eyes, brooding over something. Kakashi started drawling again.

"It must be very difficult to be too cool for something as stupid as this, isn't is?" he asked. "I mean, look at all those idiots, making further fools of themselves by blowing up balloons and getting covered with ribbon. They're so foolish to look at. I have to wonder why they're smiling and laughing so much; why they look so happy; why they're enjoying themselves? Hm?" Kakashi turned to see that Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. He grinned.

Standing up, he wandered into the hall to see what Asuma was doing about the water balloons. The math teacher was standing resolute in front of the water fountain with a particularly evil glare. Various spots of the floor were wet, but none of them looked new. The walls were a different matter, however. The cement blocks were covered with balloons with and ribbons in random patterns that were nonsensical. Hinata and Kiba were trying to work on a banner, but several students were running back and forth, stepping all over it. The scruffy boy finally got fed up and started growling whenever he saw a set of shoes.

"How's the battle?"

"Oh, you know," Asuma said. "Once you get scissors and balloons to students they go nuts." He sighed, making another motion for an invisible cigarette. "Only three water balloons before I stood guard. They're mandated to stay either in the room or in my sight. I hold all the scissors unless they need it and they use them directly in front of me."

"I never knew you were a control freak."

"I'm not, I'm just practical. This is a nightmare waiting to happen."

"Not entirely. Look at that particular trio." Kakashi jutted his chin in the direction of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura; the first two were being directed from by the third in hanging the balloons. It was going to be the only coherent point of the hallway.

"Now there's a bit of magic," Asuma said appreciatively. "It smacks of your handiwork."

Kakashi nodded, closing his eyes and listening. To the untrained observer, he was either dozing or fighting off a headache. In fact, he was listening to the half dozen odd conversations, listening not to their words, but to the meaning behind the words, the underneath of the underneath. He was renowned in the school for his understanding of student body, but nobody was ever able to figure out why. The truth was simple: he listened. It wasn't the words that were important, they very rarely were, it was the message that was being sent, the emotions that were going back and forth, coupled with the outer circles of family lives and the internal workings of temperament and ability. It was a complex web of psychology, but it was one of the things from the old life that Kakashi excelled at and could put to good use.

"Chouji," Asuma called out, "if you help Hinata and Kiba I'll let you have something from my secret stash."

"Really?!"

"Really."

"Right away."

"Ino, put up that bunch of ribbons neatly and I'll give you thirty dollars in your bank account."

"Thirty dollars?! Yes, Asuma-sensei!"

"Kiba, go back into my room and start cleaning up and I'll show you a trick on tonight's homework.

"Ryoko, grab the broom in my room and I'll ignore that forgotten homework assignment.

"Hanamaru, straighten all the posters and I'll let you go to the bathroom.

"Yuuko, collect the empty balloons and I'll allow you to get your things from your locker.

"Kakashi-sensei, could you make sure my room is being cleaned?"

"What will you give me?" Kakashi asked playfully.

"A chance to leave early."

"That's a hard bargain."

"Thank you," Asuma grinned. "Bargaining is the way of life. No one does anything without something in return." The math teacher grinned. "That's why I always win when Tsunade and I go gambling. She always thinks she can get something for nothing; I know that I have to give a little to get a little. Just when she thinks she's going to get away scott free, I take her for all she's worth."

Kakashi grinned as he pulled out of his slouch and wandered into Asuma's room,

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Woah, a lot happened in this chapter. Have any of you ever gone through a practice lockdown? How about a real one? (starts whistling) Could it be a preview of things to come? Who knows? ;) 

We also finally get all the team set ups, which lead to even more groundwork and character building - particularly with the infamous Team 7, since they're the stars of Naruto; and they get a lot of screen time in the coming arcs. The rookie nine all fell pretty neatly into certain, uh, "archetypes" that exist in school. There was a little character meddling here and there, but for the most part we were surprised at how easily everything turned out.

That being said, I'm sure over the chapters to come Ino fans are going to start bashing us. The girls in general were hard to pin down because they get SO LITTLE development in the anime/manga, and trying to figure out what would happen to them over the course of the year was difficult. Ino perhaps goes through the most changes to her character (assuming she has one...). We had a lot of conversation about how Team 10 would first interact in those months where we're completely focused on Team 7, and we sort of figured that Ino would be a bit of a jerk until she got over not being with Sasuke - and this was under the best of circumstances where it was only the four of them: Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma-sensei. Here, she's constantly seeing her precious Sasuke with Sakura; and we've seen that whenever the two are together they start butting heads. So, among other things that happen to her, she's going to be a little bitchy for this fic.

I'm also sure that some fans out there are going to be saying that Kakashi shouldn't be meddling and that Sakura should be getting to know Naruto and Sasuke on her own. In real life, it would take faaar too long for her to buy into the Team 7 thing. We only have a few months to play around with and we really wanted a solid team by the end of the story. Since there aren't life and death struggles going on to bring them closer, we needed more of a push. Enter Kakashi.

**TigerZahn**: There's absolutely no need to apologize for being rude or disrespectful or anything else you were apologizing for; because you were none of the above. You staed your opinion, and, since you don't know all the behind the scenes work we've put into this, we thought it only right to explain it to you. If WE came off as cold, rude, annoyed, etc, then WE apologize. So there :P We're so glad you love the story so much, it's comments like yours that feed us so well. :)

**Spider wench:** You have our deepest sympathies for what you're going through. I feel almost guilty for saying this, but your comment on self harm actually fit in very well with the chapter we were writing (we're way ahead in the fic than what's up here) and we were able to put it in. Some of these topics are very difficult to write; but then, that is why this fic is partially theraputic for us. We hope that you can find similar creative outlets.


	9. Week 8

**October: Week Eight**

* * *

C Period was normally prep for Kakashi's team, and he was certain the others were taking the time to finish grading homework, get ready for the next class, checking email, planning the rest of the week, cleaning the mess students always left, or (like he often did) just blew off the period and read. Kakashi's book was calling to him, certainly, but sadly he had a PPT with Iruka. It was the first one with Uzumaki Naruto's new foster father, and the English teacher had volunteered to be the teacher representative. 

He gave his beloved book one last, mournful glance before leaving his room and locking the door behind him. He poked his head across the hall to see no sign of Iruka; he'd already left (probably at the beginning of the period) and the paras were working with the various kids from resource.

Kakashi wandered down the hall and rounded a corner to reach the main hall of the building, following it all the way to the guidance office. Walking in, he asked which conference room was being used for the PPT and entered.

"You're late!" Iruka called out. Kakashi didn't hear him, he was too busy staring.

"Oh," the object of his gaze said, standing. "I don't think we've met yet. Name's Yondaime, I'm Naruto's new foster father."

"... Hatake Kakashi," the English teacher mumbled. Numbly, he sat down and mindlessly signed off on the offered paperwork to note that he was in attendance. It was all subliminal, however, because he was still staring at Naruto's foster father.

The resemblance was startling. Yellow blond hair, somewhat long, trailing behind a white jacket. Round face and startlingly blue eyes. To others, he was a grown up version of Naruto, almost like he was the birth father. To Kakashi, however, he was someone else entirely. The man smiled and Kakashi felt an icy chill crawl down his spine.

"Is something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" The teacher looked over and saw that Naruto, too, was here at the meeting. Iruka was next to the boy, giving him a concerned frown. Kakashi struggled to turn off the swirl of emotions that were churning through him, fighting to regain some semblance of balance and more importantly control.

"Shaaa," he drawled, pulling it out for longer than usual. "I'm just thinking of new way to torture your class." Blithe grin in place? Check. Singsong voice? Check. Now, wink into an innocent but all-too dangerous smile.

Naruto squinted at his teacher, frowning. "I don't think it can _get_ worse, sensei! I mean just look at all the work you gave us last week!"

"Well," Kakashi quipped, willing color to return to his face, "If you have time to complain then obviously I haven't given you enough." It was an old line; it didn't require any thought. Naruto shrank back in fear and Kakashi felt much more in control. He just had to avoid looking at _him_, Yondaime.

"All right," Raido said, getting their attention, "I think we can start now. Thanks for showing, Kakashi-sensei."

"No problem."

"This is, I guess, a take two of the PPT we were supposed to have a few weeks ago, but didn't get around to," Raido continued slowly, trying to state everything delicately.

"Yeah, they were too busy finding the perfect guy, me," Yondaime said, laughing at his own joke. "Then Naruto and I had to go and get to know each other. Then work had to interrupt. Sorry about all the delays. So give it to me straight: will he live?" He laughed again, and _it was the same laugh_. Kakashi slouched further into his chair, trying in vain to lower himself enough as to be invisible.

Iruka was laughing politely. "Well, Yondaime-san, that all depends on how much trouble Naruto gets into." The room chuckled lightly, except for Kakashi, who could only slouch further. "He has a ludicrously short attention span."

"What's 'ludicrously'?" the boy asked.

"It's the same as ridiculous," Yondaime said, _ruffling the boy's hair_. "He's saying that you can't hold a thought for more than five seconds. That's why you like those twitch video games so much. It's why you can cover six topics of conversation in as many minutes."

"Aw, I'm not _that_ bad!" Naruto complained.

"Be that as it may," Raido said, "we wanted to go over the goals for this year since you don't know them, and the steps that are in place to ensure success."

Iruka picked up from there. "Apparently, Naruto's grades last year weren't all that great. So this year we've set the goals for Cs in his academic classes. With the last parents we sent home an email every week letting them know his progress and any outstanding occurrences of behavior. Do you want us to keep that up?"

"Sure, why not?" Yondaime said. He was still _smiling_. "Does that include his pranks? He's already pulled some rather spectacular stunts at home."

"I have not!"

"What about when you jumped off the banister of the second floor with only a few pillows as a cushion?"

"That wasn't a prank!"

"Okay, then how about just yesterday when you dyed all my shorts neon green? I still have to get you to pay for all the replacements."

Raido blinked. "Has Naruto been a problem?"

The blond boy froze, knowing where _that_ question lead to all too well.

"Hell no," Yondaime replied. "He's a twelve year old boy entering puberty. I remember how _I_ was at that age, and it's all perfectly normal. I'd be more concerned if he wasn't doing these things. He's a brat, but I like him just the same."

Naruto's eyes were noticeably shiny, and Iruka looked at the boy with a broad smile of satisfaction. "What did I tell you?" he eyes seemed to say. "Everything worked out just fine."

They finished with the rest of the formalities, filling in Yondaime of Naruto's academic history and letting him know how he was currently doing in his classes, etc. Yondaime asked a few questions, such as if the child ate anything other than ramen, and what sort of books on ADHD he should get since he'd never had a child with it, and so on.

After the meeting Iruka left with Naruto (to deposit him safely in class, to be sure), and Yondaime asked a little more about what had happened with the previous foster parents. Raido gave the broad generalities, and Kakashi was about ready to disappear when he asked, "Kakashi-sensei, what's this literary group thing Naruto keeps talking about? He's always going to this girl's house, it is legit?"

The true sign of a good foster parent. Kakashi had had time to shore himself up properly, and he was able to answer the question without much incident. He explained the set up of the team-competition-individual grade motivators and the team selections; as well as giving a brief overview of Haruno Sakura and why she was one of his teammates and the talk he'd had with her over how she was his stability.

"Naruto is horrified at the idea of again being rejected, again written off, again judged as impossible, unchangeable, and unlovable," Kakashi explained. "How many foster families had he gone through? How many times had his chances of a happy life, a chance at hope of even the faintest lights, be violently jerked away from him? He's perpetually cheerful because, simply put, to be otherwise would drive him mad. He has eternal optimism, he's constantly shouting out positive platitudes, simply because he has to believe that good things would happen, to fight against the pattern he knew too well." He shrugged. "At least that's what I see."

Yondaime nodded, his face serious. "You've only known him since, what, September? That's pretty perceptive."

Kakashi shrugged again, suddenly feeling irrationally nervous. He wanted to leave. Now.

"I have one last question," the tall blond man said. "Who do I remind you of?"

It startled him, to tell the truth. He looked around and realized that the two of them were the only ones left in the room. It all felt suddenly very surreal, and Kakashi wondered in a detached thought if he'd finally snapped and crossed over that invisible line to insanity that he regularly walked next to.

"... Do you have a grandfather, or an uncle maybe, that used to go by the nickname Yellow Flash?" Kakashi later refused to believe that he had actually asked the question, refused to acknowledge that this man who looked so much like _him_ had not only seen Kakashi's reaction, but wanted to know more about it.

Yondaime frowned, thinking back. "No, not that I know of. Why? Friend of yours?"

"He's dead."

And that was all Kakashi could say before he quickly left the room. The halls were filled to overflowing with students, the bell had rung and fourth period was about to begin. He had maybe a hundred feet to put a cease-fire on all the memories that were launching back and forth in his head, squish and kick his emotions under a rug and glue on the demonic-yet-innocent grin on his face as he entered the classroom.

He was late, of course.

* * *

Kakashi arrived later than usual the next day, having lingered in various places around his apartment as he tried to shake off memories. Between Veteran's Day and this, he wasn't entirely sure he should just call in sick. But then, work was the best way to get his mind off it all. He'd made a promise to make something of his life; he spent every day remembering it because if he didn't, if he didn't try to make a difference in one student's life, if he didn't work his hardest, it would be insult to him, to them. He loved them too much, respected them too much, to tarnish their memory with his weakness. 

He took a very deep breath before stepping out of his car. He'd deliberately parked as close to the school as he could, because if he didn't, he was sure his nerve would break.

He opened the doors, stepped into the yells and shouts and random bits of students, and for a moment just stood there, absorbing the sound, the smell of whiteboard marker, the thuds of running.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?" He looked down to see an eighth grader, Tenten.

"Oh, just sleeping while standing. I have to do it sometime, don't I?"

"Sensei, you're just so _strange_!"

And life was back to normal. Kakashi entered his room and barely paid any mind to the veritable sea of hats: baseball, cowboy, berets, headbands, and even a clever student who had decided to wear a football helmet. It was Hat Day after all, the second day of Spirit Week. He paused for a moment, surveying the hats more closely, and happily noted that there were no offensive hats yet. No beer, no rabbit heads, no swears. Good, maybe this grade would have a sense or propriety.

Which reminded him, as he waited for morning announcement to end, that he had an announcement of his own.

"Okay," he said lightly, eyeing the collection of twelve year olds, "I just want to take the opportunity to remind you of something. Tomorrow is Sports Day, Thursday is Twin Day; there shouldn't be any problems. Friday is, of course Halloween, and you all will no doubt be dressing up. I just wanted to remind you that how you dress still falls under the school dress code." He pulled out the copies he'd made the previous day after school and handed them out. "I'm sure you all read the student handbook page by page so this page should look familiar," he said lightly, taking note as to how many of them picked up the sarcasm, "but I thought I'd remind you: clothing of offensive nature, such as hats or shirts that have beer logos, swears, racial slurs, or derogatory comments; shorts and/or skirts that are too short; exposed navals and bra straps;" several students blushed and coughed, "and indecent exposure, etc. The first offense for _any_ of these is a five-day OSS.

"Oh, and one more thing," he added. The homeroom visibly drew back, already conditioned to dread One More Thing. "Have fun."

The bell rang, and they were off.

Team Time passed relatively uneventfully. Kurenai had tossed three kids across the day to the office because of offensive hats, and Gai was again proclaiming his genius at the competitive pairs and the resounding success they were turning out to be. Iruka gave an overview of the PPT with Yondaime and his impressions of the man, and Kakashi pleased himself with adding a comment or two of his own without incident.

When F period started, they split the class into their respective teams, and Iruka took the even numbers off to his room.

It wasn't long, however, before Naruto was at Kakashi's desk, and oddly pensive look on his face. "Kakashi-sensei," he said slowly, in the quietest voice he'd ever heard from the boy. "Do you know why I'm with Yondaime now; I mean what lead up to it?"

An odd bell rung in Kakashi's mind, and he wondered if it was a warning bell or not. Nevertheless he worded his reply very carefully. "I don't know all the gritty details, if that's what you mean. Iruka passed on that something happened, but that you wanted to keep it to yourself. Why?"

"You... _know me_... don't you sensei?" Naruto tried again, trying to aim at something specific.

"I know you as well as I know any of my students. Why?"

Naruto frowned, trying to work through whatever was going on in his head. Kakashi looked over and saw that his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura, were glancing over but otherwise trying to pretend that Naruto wasn't missing. The rest of the class was talking quietly, the proper noise level of a working class.

"Sensei, if something really shitty happened to you, do you share it with other people? What I mean is," and Naruto paused again, his blond head dipped low, his fists opening and closing. "If two people are working with you, and you kinda feel like they might be okay, do you tell them about that shitty thing?"

Kakashi had to work very quickly to suppress his grin, covering it by shifting in his seat. "Well," he said. "That just sort of depends, doesn't it? Being guarded is a natural thing. If you've been hurt enough it becomes almost second nature." The English teacher kept his voice even, almost light, but keeping enough seriousness in it to give Naruto's answer proper respect as he continued. "When that happens, you tend to just believe in the worst before anything even happens. Picking people to be friends is suddenly very hard, and you feel really lonely in the meantime. When you're finally ready to have friends, you're lost on how to get them. Am I right?"

Naruto nodded, understanding Kakashi's words all too well. It was easy, really, because Kakashi had gone through it all himself.

"I'll tell you what you do. Make a test."

"... Huh?"

"Make a test. Ask a question and then grade their answer. If their answer is an A, and it has to be an A, then they can be classified as friends and you can tell them about your bad thing. If they don't pass, then it's probably best to keep it to yourself until they do pass your questions. Does that make sense?"

"Well, yeah, I guess," Naruto replied. He threw a glance filled with something almost like longing to his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura. "But what kind of question do I ask?"

Kakashi leaned back, as if giving it some thought. "Well, I don't really know," he answered. "After all, I don't know all your life experiences; so I don't know what's important enough to you to use it as a test question. Only you know the curriculum, right?" He smiled.

A rare look slowly grew on Naruto's face: one of complete understanding. The orange clad youth rejoined his teammates and picked up his book to read.

"What was the heavy conversation about?" the pink haired Sakura asked.

"He was telling me about how you make a good test question," Naruto replied. "You have to really know the curriculum."

"Hn."

The smile was open now. That was two out of three; the only one left was Sasuke. Once he bought into it, he knew that this would be his star team.

"You should all just leave me the fuck alone!!" Kakashi stood straight up and made a beeline to the owner of the voice: Kazekage Gaara. The redheaded goth boy was standing at his desk, his normally apathetic green eyes filled with rage, his lips curled into a vicious snarl. He immediately got in front of the boy.

"Why don't we take this outside?" the teacher asked in a light, soft voice.

Gaara's glare was intense, and whatever rage was boiling through him was instantly directed at Kakashi. Good, better him than the students. "You're team shit is a fucking stupid idea! I should kill you for making me go through this shit!"

Kakashi flattened his gaze. "I know you don't really mean that," he said in a low, serious voice. "Because if you did, the trouble you'd be in would be astronomical."

"I don't give a fuck about your fucking authority! You can't make me do anything!" Spittle ejected from his mouth, he was so angry. The boy suddenly grabbed his head and started groaning. Falling to his knees, Gaara started swaying back and forth, shaking his head and generating more groans and keens. Kakashi turned around to the class.

"Naruto. Get Iruka-sensei. Sakura, find Tsunade. Sasuke, go to the office and tell the principal what's happening."

Team 7 immediately dispersed and Kakashi crouched down, reworking his presence from one of authority to one of comfort. He glanced up and looked at Gaara's teammates, Temari and Kankuro. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Temari whispered, he face pale with the color of fear. "We were reading and he suddenly started groaning. Kankuro asked what was wrong and he just flipped out!"

"Sshut up," Gaara slurred. "Shut up!"

Temari visibly backed away, leaning further back in her seat, afraid that getting up would set Gaara off further.

Iruka appeared and immediately put a hand on Gaara's shoulder, offering soothing words and soft platitudes before Tsunade arrived. Between the two of them they were able to convince Gaara that everything was fine and that it was okay to go to the Health Office. The class breathed an audible sigh of relief when he left.

* * *

Gaara was absent for two days - put in the isolated classrooms until his medication (the cause of the outburst) was readjusted - and came back Friday, just in time for Halloween. The Sports Day went off without a hitch, and Thursday was noted by the ludicrous attempt by Gai to dress as Kakashi's Twin. For some reason, the social studies teacher, dressed in rumpled clothes, a poor-fitting grey wig, a stage makeup scar, and a not-perfect slouch just looked rather... silly. Kakashi informed Gai that he was just too straight-laced to pull off being lackadaisical. Gai's steaming could be heard for hours thereafter. 

Thursday also brought the completed costumes by Kurenai's mother. It was a stunning job to say the least: simple pants and shirts (or, in Gai's case, a green jumpsuit for the Green Beast) with the altered combat vests, gauze for bindings, and some magnificently constructed open toed sneakers. There were pouches to keep kunai and other accessories, for not only the smalls of their backs, but to wrap around their legs as well. The best feature were the hitae'ates; the navy blue headbands had a metal plate sewn into them with the Konoha Middle School stationary insignia - a stylized leaf - stamped into it. Asuma immediately locked his door as they examined the costumes in detail, noting the personal touches and little hints that made each costume unique. Gai had the green jumpsuit, for example, and weights for his legs given his propensity for physical activity. Asuma had a sash with some kind of insignia on it. Kakashi had been given fingerless gloves with metal bands sewn onto their backs and a mask. Kurenai had healed shoes and a silk wrap designed to look like scrolls.

Kakashi looked at his costume, his old combat vest, and was half surprised to discover that the bullet holes had been patched and fixed. He looked at the old sources of pain and was glad to note that it didn't come. The clothes were unrecognizable, and therefore safe to look at. He examined his costume and realized that he felt good about wearing these old clothes in a new way. Gai's comment about new memories had been right, and he made a mental note to deliberately lose the next challenge as a thank you to the social studies teacher.

The student costumes on Friday varied widely. There were pirates, superheroes, comic book figures, game characters, TV personalities, knights, princesses, angels, Frankensteins, ballerinas, just to name a few. Kakashi did a double take when he saw not one but two Cloud Strifes of Final Fantasy fame talking to each other, next to a giant Snoopy and what looked to be one of those transforming mecha from a recent movie.

The faculty were again themed: the office had a nursery rhyme theme, with Tsunade as Mother Goose, Shizune as Little Red Riding Hood, Jiraiya and Orochimaru as Hansel and Gretel, and old man Sarutobi as the Boy who Cried Wolf. Fifth grade were seventies movie stars, sixth grade was split between Jocks and Nerds, eighth grade were all anime characters, and of course the seventh grade were pirates and ninjas.

As Kakashi walked through the halls, mask in place, headband crooked over his newer eye, and cardboard kunai spinning lightly in his hands, he made about three steps into his section of the hall before he was bombarded with one Very Important Question:

"Where can I get one of those headbands?"

Every. Single. Student. He ran into asked that exact question, word for word. He walked past his room all together and made straight for Kurenai's corner of the hall.

"I think we have a winner," he said casually.

The science teacher made right for him, a bright smile on her face. "Kakashi-sensei, I just had the most brilliant idea! I just got off the phone with my mother, and she said that making these were very easy, and barely cost her anything. I think we have the makings of a beautiful fundraiser here. She can make them and we can sell them, oh, for five dollars or something. It's an instant hit and money will come pouring into the grade!"

Kakashi grinned widely, seen even through the mask. "Good. I leave it in your hands. Give me a detailed plan sometime next week on how it will run, and we can go about making flyers and announcements."

"I will!" Kurenai replied. "I haven't been this excited about fundraising in _ages_! This was just the spark I needed!"

The English teacher agreed. He was starting to see signs of that spark he'd seen in her interview. Perhaps she was just a late bloomer, didn't show her true ability until she was settled. Iruka had been like that when he'd first joined, and so Kakashi gave the new teacher a little more time.

The risk with days like Halloween, or Valentine's Day, or other such holidays came in various forms. For one, the students were all dressed strangely, of course, and gave them pause for conversation; plans for trick or treating that evening, planning possible pranks, and the like. But the biggest worry for these kinds of days began with a capital C.

Candy.

Middle school students were a handful to begin with, because they had all the energy of their elementary school years and were just starting to enter into the angst fest known as their high school years; add sugar of any kind to the mix was like putting oil on a grease fire, or something equally horrific. There were students like Haruno Sakura, thoughtful and generous, who handed out candy in all of their classes, which in turn made the students ask if they could eat it then and there, and things generally degraded from there as the sugar started to melt into their bloodstreams. Not one, but three students in different classes all came to Kakashi (sometimes sober-face, usually not) saying that there was blood all over the walls of the bathroom and it was really scary. Five kids donated their candy stock to the English teacher because he caught them trying to eat it in his class. He lost track of the number of times a student would walk by his door and shout, "BOO!" in the hopes of startling the not-quite unsuspecting students.

So, by the time fifth period arrived and Asuma came in with the pizza, everyone was a little raw, to say the least. And they still had the pep rally to go through.

"Remind me again why we do this every year?" Asuma asked.

"The youth like it," Gai answered, a few degrees shy of philosophically.

"So torture like this is okay so long as the kids like it? Somebody give me some hemlock." The math teacher dropped his head audibly on the desk, moaning something about unfairness.

"If you don't like it," Kakashi replied blithely, "take it up with your old man."

"Like hell I will."

"It's your choice."

Kurenai interrupted to explain her idea of the headband fundraiser, and that perked Asuma up noticeably, the team treasurer already calculating projected income based on the general opinion of the student body. He liked the figures he was coming up with.

"We don't have to limit it to just the seventh grade, either; we can open it up to the entire school and see if we can get the other students interested to." He looked up. "Can your mother do triangular bandanas, too? I forget their actual name."

"I think so," Kurenai replied, pulling out her cell phone. "Let me leave a message."

"We can do flyers like: 'Are you a pirate or a ninja?' and give them the option of the bandanas or the headbands." And so it went.

After team came F period, and Kakashi noted that Team 7 immediately sat together, head huddled closely. Had Naruto told them? Kakashi didn't ask, but his tone was decidedly more singsong than normal. Iruka noticed it in combination with his prized Naruto, and was also noticeably cheerier.

Last period, however, the class assembled only for a few minutes before Shizune made the announcement to report to the gym. Kakashi and his team filed through the halls, mingling with Gai and Kurenai as they made their way to the gym. The bleachers were already half full when they arrived, the fifth and sixth graders swelling up one side of the gym. Their students immediately made beelines to the choice seats - up in back, before Kakashi and the others levels glares and various directional gestures to get them seated where they were supposed to be. The eighth graders soon followed, and the teachers themselves spread out. Kakashi and Gai leaned against one of the padded walls to better observe the giant student body. Someone had been blackmailed into being the school mascot, and he or she was running around trying to stir up the already worked-up kids. There was a lot of screaming, and Kakashi, already prepared, pulled out earplugs and handed an extra pair to the social studies teacher next to him.

"Ah, Kakashi, you are as always prepared for every contingency."

"Ah."

"But never fear, some day I _will_ find you unprepared and be there to help you out, and then I shall surpass you!"

"Ah."

"Oooh! Even in the midst of such fiery school patriotism and youthful energy you remain ever cool and aloof!"

"Ah."

"Haaah! Someday I will get a reaction out of you and then I will surpass you!"

"Gai? You're repeating yourself now. You'd better stop while you're ahead."

"Aha! You admit that I'm ahead! Worry not, Kakashi! You will catch up eventually!"

Kakashi stopped replying at that point. It was not long after that the old man himself, Sandaime, came out and took a microphone from the previously set up stand.

"Helloooooooo Konoha Middle!" he called out. His old voice carried very well, and while there was a passion in it, it did not have the energy for injecting spirit into the student body. The crowd yelled politely, but it wasn't nearly as loud as it could have been.

"I just want to take a moment to thank you all for being here, and that this year, is going to be the best year ever!" The crown cheered again, but there were a noticeable number of catcalls and a few boos. "Before I'm booed off completely," the principal admitted, a faint grin on his face, "I'll hand off the mike to a man who can properly excite you! Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to the Toad Sage himself: Jiraiyaaaaa!"

Kakashi pushed his earplugs in further to stave off the sheer volume. The old man ran out into the gymnasium, waving and grinning wildly. Thus began the pep rally, as he listed off the names of the students on the various sports teams, said students running out in their uniforms and waiving to the crowd. There was a lot of screaming and shouting; the four grades in competition with each other over which one was the loudest, i.e. the coolest. The cheerleaders did nothing to help matters; Kakashi saw Ino in particular was doing her kicks very high and much wider than the rest of the girls. She probably didn't realize what she was doing, most girls at that age didn't, but it was frankly disturbing to see such behavior from a twelve-year old. Kakashi glanced at Gai and saw that he'd seen it too, a deep frown on his face as his eyes were locked onto the spectacle.

The last of the teams were announced, and it was perfectly timed as the bell rang and the students poured out of the bleachers to the buses and their lockers.

Kakashi lingered, his team gathering about him. They shared their various plans for Halloween and the weekend in general, before dispersing to go home themselves.

Ah, Kakashi felt, a good day.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Kakashi chapter! Team 7 chapter! They've been together for what, two weeks? Three? And they're already oiled enough for Kakashi to use them in emergencies. Hah, this was a fun chapter to write. A little angst, a little comedy, and of course the headbands! We're really pleased with how the talk between Kakashi and Naruto turned out, it's a very Kakashi thing to say, and as you'll see in later chapters it will work out rather well for Naruto. 

Gaara's plate was spun a little bit, too. Something's is up with him. We're not saying what. At least not yet.

And yes, for this story Yellow Flash and Yondaime are two different people. It just worked out better when we were doing the planning. Poor Kakashi. He's going to get even more reminders of his past in the weeks to come.

**TigerZahn**: We're glad someone is enjoying this story so much. You're our only steady reviewer. And yes, we've been few a few lockdowns in our time (both real and practice). As for Kakashi's tendency to meddle, well, just look at him in the show. It fits his character. It's also an added plus because Team 7 don't have major life-threatening battles in which to learn to depend on each other. Other means of getting them close are needed. Hehe. Kiba will be doing a lot of growing.whistles knowingly. As for Ino, yes, girls can be that harsh. We deal with them every day. Also, thank you, yet again, for catching those bloody quote errors. We keep thinking we're rid of them... We turned of the "smart quotes" in MS Word, and conversion has been a lot easier, but our older chapters (ie, the one's you're reading) didn't have that. Meh. Time will get rid of them all eventually. Thanks again for your kind words.


	10. Week 9

**November: Week Nine**

* * *

Monday morning, Kakashi would only barely admit to himself that he felt just the _slightest_ bit silly. Walking down the halls, students and teachers would give him double takes and questioning glances, and, since the Scarecrow had parked on the opposite side of the school, he encountered a lot of stares and raised eyebrows. When he stopped off in the office to get his mail, someone finally had the strength to comment. 

"Kakashi," Orochimaru hissed. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm just fine," Kakashi replied blithely, his eyes not leaving the guidance counselor. "Is there a problem?"

"That depends, do you know what day it is?"

"Perfectly well."

"Then, Kakashi-sensei, one must wonder. Why are you still wearing that?"

"That" of course, was the leaf-engraved headband that had gone with his costume that was still covering his eye.

"Haven't you heard?" Kakashi smiled. "These are going to be a fundraiser for our team. Everyone's going to be wearing them soon."

Orochimaru smiled, nodded, and slithered away. Frowning, the Scarecrow wondered what the Snake Guy was up to. Try as he might, Kakashi just couldn't trust the sneaky guidance counselor.

Glancing briefly through his mail, Kakashi didn't see anything important and just tucked it under his arm as he continued back down the hall heading for his teams corner of the building. At least there, he was pleased to note, the other members of his team had also taken to continuing to where their hitae-ate. Fundraiser advertising? Who needed it with how often their students were _still_ asking about the headbands. There was also the added bonus, for Kakashi, of hiding his scar, which students tended to pester him on. If he worked this out right, his hidden face would be a whole new way to poke the students into learning. It could add a whole new dimension to his teaching style. Oh, the possibilities. The Scarecrow grinned as he walked into homeroom.

* * *

Team Time was marked by two important things. The first was that both Kakashi and Iruka were very late, because Kakashi was going over his lessons with Iruka for Wednesday, when the English teacher would be off at the regional conference. Given the chances of getting a good substitute (non-existent) Kakashi wanted to make sure that Iruka knew and understood how things would be going, as well as the paraprofessionals that Kakashi had in his earlier classes (although his para in A Period would be useless and just sit there so that the sub would do everything). 

Kakashi both loved and hated days off. He loved days off _because_ it was a day off, a chance to just read the day away. But he also despised days off because it was such an upset in the schedule for the kids. They'd have busy work, they knew they'd have busy work, and they'd get out of control, leaving Kakashi with all the paperwork of referrals and detentions and getting them back on track. In order to put the kibosh on such shenanigans, the English teacher had been warning the classes about his absence and the behavior he expected. He was also counting on the various paras to help keep a handle on the class, and he _knew_ Iruka would do just fine.

So, when the two of them finally sauntered into Asuma's room (alright, alright, Kakashi sauntered, Iruka skulked), it was the smoking teacher who proclaimed tardiness with a great big smile. Offering his own grin, Kakashi slouched into his chair and let Iruka give the excuse this time.

Still smiling, Asuma grunted a greeting. "Nice of you two to join us. Now, which of you hasn't had Sasuke yet, aside from me?"

"I have the youthful Uchiha second period."

"I have him last," Kurenai added.

"He's in my F period," Kakashi stated, "but I just saw him for SSR. Is it about his cast?"

Asuma nodded. "He came right up to me told me in homeroom this morning, that he's not going to repeat the story to thirty thousand people. He said that his house got the toilet paper and egg treatment for Halloween, and when he and his brother were cleaning up, he leaned too far out from the ladder and fell." Asuma smirked, reaching for a cigarette that wasn't there, "And he doesn't want anyone to sign his cast. He's embarrassed enough as is."

Kurenai snorted. "I remember when I was a kid. My house would keep getting toilet paper every year until we got a little guard dog. We trained it to chase anyone carrying eggs and toilet paper. Silly string was a little harder, but that could be washed off with the hose." She smiled. "I think I'll suggest it too him."

Asuma shook his head. "He's too soar to suggest that now. Wait a week or so for him to cool off."

"Our youthful Uchiha was very quiet in class today, more so than he is under normal circumstances. His solitude has even made Naruto unusually reticent in class."

"He was quiet with you?" Kurenai asked. "Both he_and_ Sakura were silent first period."

"I see the three of them next period," Kakashi observed, book still open, but he was no longer reading. "I'll see if I can dig up anything."

"Ah, our fearless leader is going to use his mysterious methods to probe the youthful psyche of our students! I await your revelations, Kakashi, and will try to exceed you with my own attempts of intelligence gathering!"

Kakashi ignored the social studies teacher and went back to reading.

* * *

When next period came around, the students found Kakashi slouching at his desk, book open, and legs up on his desk. Normally, the English teacher was late to their class, and they knew it was because he had the team meeting beforehand. But to actually see their teacher there and Iruka putting the warm-up on the board was a little unnerving to say the least. Did the English teacher skip out on team time? Was he angry with one of the other members of the team and avoiding them? 

As the kids tried to rationalize why their teacher was actually_early_, Kakashi just held his book open and listened. Team 10 had Ino and Chouji wildly speculating on what was going on while Shikamaru just stared out the window, Team 8 was Kiba and Shino theorizing while Hinata read. Team 1 had Temari and Kankuro talking as well while Gaara just ignored them. Kakashi grinned to himself. He was _known_ throughout the grade as being a tardy teacher and to see him there was such a shock, the students were all theorizing the ludicrous and impossible theories that students always jumped to.

The only team not discussing possibilities was Team 7. The English teacher glanced at their group in front of his desk. They were in some sort of hissing match in voices so low, even Kakashi's well trained ears couldn't pick up what was being said. He _could_ make out the fact that both Sakura and Naruto were trying to say something to Sasuke, but the boy just ignored them, staring at the cast on his wrist.

"Sasuke-teme!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

They weren't going to get anywhere, from the looks of things, and Kakashi filed the information away, as he stood up and started class. He and Iruka presented their material, or at least tried to. Within five minutes of starting, Asuma called to have Iruka come and help a student who was having a meltdown in his class, so the special education teacher went around the corner to help Sudoku-sama. Kakashi continued his presentation, but the phone rang three separate times: one wrong number, Jiraiya looking for Shinosuke (try Kurenai's class), and Ebisu's secretary looking for Kiba.

Once the Scarecrow had finally finished his highly-interrupted discussion, he finally was able to let the groups get to work. Naturally, he wanted to eavesdrop on Team 7 to try and figure out what was up with the three of them when the phone rang _again_.

"Grand Central Station," Kakashi drawled into the phone, getting very tired of all the calls.

"Busy day?" Tsunade asked.

"Busy period. What can I do?"

"Gaara didn't come down for his afternoon dose of medication. Could you send him down please?"

"Aah." Knowing of Gaara's tendency to get "lost" and wander the halls, Kakashi wrote out a pass in case anyone who caught the quiet kid could take him directly to the nurse. Gaara glared at the pass and at him before stalking out of the room. Finally, he could get back to Team 7. He extended his ears, listening.

"Look," Sasuke growled, "It's my choice. Respect that and leave it alone."

Kakashi gleaned two things from that one line. First, Sasuke wasn't asking Naruto and Sakura to leave _him_ alone, just "it". That was good. Very good. Secondly was that Sasuke didn't want any help with "it". That could be bad, depending on what "it" was. Given how concerned Sasuke's teammates appeared, he probably needed help with "it." Now, to find out what "it" was. To Kakashi's disappointment, the subject appeared closed with Team 7 as they finally got to their assignment. Damn.

Iruka finally returned from helping Asuma, muttering not-nice things about the paraprofessional who had been with the math teacher. Apparently, she had instigated the meltdown for the student and did nothing to help.

"_Iruka._" Kakashi signed. This gave the special education teacher paused, stopping his ramblings and looking to the English teacher.

"_What's wrong? Did something happen while I was out?_"

"_Sort of._" Kakashi detailed what had occurred, including Gaara and Kiba, since they were Iruka's students, and what he'd over heard with Team 7. "_Bully Naruto during Resource. See if you can pull anything from him. I'll work on Sasuke during SSR, but I'm not holding out much hope given how tight-lipped he can be. I'll also talk to Sakura during homeroom._"

Iruka nodded.

* * *

After school, Kakashi had been surprised when he looked at his calendar to see that there was a student council meeting after school. So he sat back and listened as the council sat in his room to discuss upcoming fundraisers and the like for the school. Sakura sat in her seat that she sat in during class and Kakashi had to pull teeth to get her to say anything. Something was clearly bugging her, but she wasn't discussing it. She was discussing anything. Neji, the student council president tried to elicit responses from her throughout the meeting, but Sakura merely recorded everything, as was her role as secretary. Kakashi sat back frustrated. 

The following morning during homeroom was more successful in the sense that Sakura was actively talking and appeared back to her old self, but any attempts by the English teacher to find out what had so concerned her were stonewalled. Somewhat perturbed by his inability to find out anything, when SSR came along, he sent Sakura out on student council business and tried to use a crowbar on Sasuke. But, as he had predicted, nothing doing. Since that didn't work, Kakashi left SSR in an attempt to find the local rumor mill representative and get some info (his kids weren't going to be a problem without him there, they all knew better). Nothing.

And so it was that Kakashi showed up late to team feeling somewhat put out. It had been years since students had blocked him out so well. The English teachers strong point _was_ English and his ability to listen to the language and find out what was underneath the underneath. Students were exceptionally easy to pick apart because of their penchant for gossiping. If the student themselves won't discuss it with you, then go talk to their friends, something will eventually slip, giving enough leverage to pry out what you need. The grape vine might be highly exaggerated, but it provided enough clues for Kakashi to put two and two together. Team 7, however, wasn't discussing "it" with anyone, which meant the Scarecrow was limited to the team itself.

He glanced at Iruka as he slouched into his usual chair, but the special education teacher just shrugged.

"So, Kakashi, my eternal rival, what seems to be the situation putting our youthful Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto into bouts of silent contemplation and distraction?"

The Scarecrow shrugged. "Still looking."

Asuma, Iruka, and Gai's jaws dropped.

"You, the 'underneath the underneath' Kakashi, haven't figured out what's bugging them?" Asuma sat back, looking very much like a cigarette should be falling out of his mouth. "I'll be damned."

Kurenai glanced around. "I take it Kakashi is good at getting information?"

The math teacher snorted. "Good? He _was_ in the military, and if you listen to the rumors the kids come up with, he's a CIA operative that was so good, the CIA doesn't know he's retired and working with kids."

"And our Scarecrow Knight has never failed in getting whatever information we need for a student who is troubled. My eternal rival is renowned throughout the administration as the go-to man when our youthful charges are acting oddly, for his speed in getting to the heart of the problem is superb, to the point of being told and getting an answer within an hour."

Iruka nodded, fingering his scar. "His own record is something like ten minutes. And here we are, a day later, and he's coming up with nothing?"

Kakashi looked flatly at his team. "I said I'm still looking. Now can someone give us good news?"

To that, the math teacher chuckled. "I can. I've already mentioned this to Iruka, but Shikamaru's going to spend more time with me during SSR. He hates his new math teacher over in the eight grade, and any questions he has he's coming to me with."

"More like coming over just to talk," Iruka retorted.

Asuma shrugged. "He does have legitimate questions, but if he keeps up what he's doing, he's going to be bumped up a level again. I'm not as comfortable with that, just because of maturity with classmates at a higher level than him, but I'm proud that he's taking up the challenge."

"You mean our youthful genius is not being lazy with his new challenging curriculum?" Gai smiled brightly. "Now he must learn to put forth the same effort in all of his classes so that his grades can improve!"

Kurenai snorted. "Good luck with that."

"Speaking of grades," Kakashi interrupted, "Report cards come out next week. Grades close for us on Thursday. Has anyone shown you the software we use?"

Team time went about the more mundane after that.

* * *

On Thursday, Kakashi had quite the harrowing tale to tell about his trip to the regional conference. First was the weather. Wednesday had rained all day long, quite heavy at times. Now Kakashi didn't mind rain, and even liked it on some levels, especially if it meant he could curl up around a good book. But no, he had to venture out into the tumultuous weather to drive over two-and-a-half hours across the state line to get to the conference. Of course, since the event was all day long, with breakfast being served at 8:00 sharp and presentations and panels starting at 9:00; that meant that Kakashi ha had to get up at 5:00 in order to get there on time. But because of the contentious rain, that was _pouring_ on the highway, Kakashi had ended up in rush-hour traffic with three major accidents between him and the hotel where the conference was being held. 

The Scarecrow had just _known_ that he wasn't going to get to the hotel for their breakfast, and he'd be lucky if he got in at 9:30, so once he got to the right city, he found a good looking coffee shop to stop off at to at least _try_ and have the most important meal of the day. However, his luck continued to be sour as the place was jam-packed and he couldn't find anything beyond fast-food drive-throughs that he refused to eat at due to the slave labor that they employed.

So, starving and already in a foul mood, Kakashi had arrived at the conference at 10:00 after spending almost five hours on the road. Finding the hotel staff, the Scarecrow had managed to beg some food to at least attempt to satiate his empty stomach and found a coffee machine that was serving sludge, but at that point, he'd take anything.

The _one_ workshop that the English teacher had really wanted to sit in on, was already full when he got there and he was left on his feet for almost an hour and a half with none of the handouts that were given out at the beginning. Plus, the next session for this workshop wouldn't be until later in the afternoon, about the time Kakashi would have to leave to get home. He gleaned what he could, went up afterward to get some of the pamphlets, and then went out to the booths. He'd been looking for _years_ to find a good English text that had the compilations of stories he went through without having to buy 150 paperbacks of each book. His hunt this year, was again in vain.

Around noon, the hotel opened up a room with a buffet lunch and Kakashi finally took the opportunity to fill his stomach (and then some, he didn't know how long the drive home would take at this rate), and then went prowling around the various workshops that were having sessions at a better time for him. He was able to sit in on a few, but none were what he was looking for, so Kakashi had his beloved book open for most of the afternoon.

Around 5:00, a full twelve hours after he had awoken to the incessant beeping of his alarm, Kakashi walked outside the hotel to a deluge. He trudged the two blocks to the parking garage where his car was and was grateful that he was able to slip out before _every_one else decided it was a good time to leave and head home. Still, it was rush hour, and Kakashi had a hell of a time trying to get back onto the highway. To make matters even better, he was reminded of Rhode Island with all the one-way streets that prevented a direct line to the entrance ramp. The Scarecrow was almost certain he made a full figure eight before he was finally on the interstate.

Of course, Wednesday wasn't done with him yet. The highway apparently had a truck that had jack-knifed, causing the highway to be closed and a detour to be made onto the side streets. So Kakashi got himself good and lost before he saw the glimmer of hope of an entrance ramp. Of course, he got on going in the wrong direction, forcing him to get off at the next exit to get back on going properly into the direction of home.

Once he started to reach familiar ground, Kakashi was able to stop off at a cheap restaurant he knew and did manage to have a good dinner, if fast, before once again braving the rain-slick streets and crawling home at almost nine-o'clock.

Naturally, when he dragged himself into school Thursday morning, rather go straight to his homeroom, he shuffled into Iruka's room and spoke to both Iruka and the paras to see how classes went the previous day. Kakashi was immensely grateful that the special education educators had kept a lid on his classes and done all the detentions and write-ups necessary, and that the substitute had been mildly competent. He was even more surprised to see notes from the substitute on how every class was. Now if only the substitute-service would let him _request_ competent subs like that...

With his story finished, Kakashi was pleased to see the smiles, chuckles, and all around amusement from his team. Kurenai was laughing so hard; she was wiping tears from her eyes while Gai slapped the desk in good humor, his guffaws echoing in the room.

"So, did I miss much while I was out?"

"Not much," Kurenai replied, still chuckling. "I gave both Ino and Kiba detentions this morning. I should see the two of them tomorrow afternoon. That's the only excitement that I've really had."

"Hn. Well, this is what's coming up." And with that, they got back to the mundane scheduling of PPTs, fundraisers, etc.

* * *

Friday was as "normal" as a school day could be. Kakashi laid back from his investigation into Team 7 because he didn't want them picking up on his curiosity about them. Besides, given his professional day Wednesday, administration had given him an extra day to get his grades done, and he was _using_ it. It was his reason for being late to Team Time. Plus, with Parent/Teacher Conferences next week, Kakashi would have to be cautious on his probing since he wasn't going to have much time. 

By the time the final bell rang, Kakashi was grateful to finally have some time to finish his grades _and_ get everything ready the following week. He was planning out where everyone should be on his calendar when he realized that he needed copies of a worksheet for Monday's classes and, given his investigations into Team 7 and his professional day from hell, he hadn't had the time to make any. Sighing, Kakashi stood, lifted his Konoha headband to rub his eyes before putting it back down, and meandered out of his room with his master copy. He didn't get any farther than the corner when his ears dragged him into Kurenai's room.

Inside was a snapshot. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but Kakashi could only think of one word to describe what he saw. At opposite corners of the room, as far apart as they could be, were Kiba and Ino, desks facing walls so they couldn't even see each other. That didn't stop either of them from turning in their seats to argue with one another. Kiba was currently on the defensive while Ino shouted verbal attacks meant to slice through Kiba's defensive toughness. Neither had any control of their mouths and were saying the first things that came to mind as their verbal war continued in loud volume, getting more and more insulting. In the middle of the room, stood Kurenai, keeping a calm, if irritated voice, ordering both of them to sit back down and get to work, ignore the other, etc. Somewhere in Kurenai's continuous orders to cease and desist, she had given out second detentions to each of them, but the two students just weren't listening. The one word that Kakashi could think of for all this was Defiance.

Since nobody had noticed him, the English teacher went back to his room, pulled out his largest and thickest books (an old English text of his that contained all of Shakespeare's plays in both the original text and a "modern" more easily understood equivalent) and returned to the science room. He stood at the door for a moment before lifting the book over his head and letting it drop.

The resounding _thud!_ was enough to finally stop the byplay of three voices talking at once, as three heads turned to see his displeased grin.

"Ino," Kakashi stated. "Come with me. You'll serve the rest of your detention with me."

"WHY?" she shouted. "I've already had three with you!"

"Would you like to make it five?"

Muttering unpleasant things, she shot a glare at the hooded Kiba before reaching down to gather up her stuff. Kurenai smiled at Kakashi, mouthing a "thank you" before strolling over the Kiba and pulling off his hood.

"Ino, first thing is for you to pick up this book and follow me."

"Yes, sensei."

"Good, now follow me. And don't put down anything."

With Ino now following him, Kakashi went about his business. He didn't let her sit down or put down any of the materials she was carrying, meaning she had to trail along behind him as he made copies, went to speak with teachers and administration for various reasons that could have waited, and made a loop around the school in what he explained to Ino as his daily exercise lap. The blond was naturally perturbed to basically have to keep up with her sensei while carrying all of her own books, her large purse that was filled with who knew what (Kakashi never understood the need of purses when a simple pocket would do), as well as his largest and heaviest book nestled in her arms and all his copies.

With her still weighted down, flushed and sweating from the exertion, Kakashi stopped off at Kurenai's room again and called her out into the hall.

"Now, Ino, do you have anything to say?"

Ino glared at Kakashi, but managed a small bow to the science teacher, her heavy backpack almost sliding down her arm and making her fall. "I'm sorry for not listening to you Kurenai-sensei, and I'm sorry I swore in class yesterday."

"Thank you, Ino," Kurenai smiled sweetly. "You can finish up your detention with Kakashi-sensei and consider us even."

The blond snorted, but looked expectantly at Kakashi for him to get going back to his room so she could finally deposit all the weight she was carrying. Naturally, since that's what Ino wanted, Kakashi did the opposite and chatted with Kurenai about various things for several minutes, subtly watching the blond roll her eyes. Kakashi waited. When Ino finally looked resigned to just standing there, to the point of slouching to try and take some of the weight off her arms, Kakashi winked and Kurenai and took off at a brisk pace back to his room, inwardly laughing as Ino struggled to catch up. Once back in his room, he had her start to copy out of the dictionary and called the science teacher.

"So how's your day been?" he asked.

She sighed into her receiver. "I can't thank you enough for your help, they were feeding off each other and I couldn't stop it. They both got detentions for different reasons, they usually don't speak to each other in class, so I can't figure out what happened today."

"She likes to talk and he was the only one available."

Kurenai snorted. "He hasn't exactly gone back to behaving. I'm writing him up as we speak. He's currently laid out across the seats talking nonsense. Plus the second detention he's gotten from me."

"Will she keep that second detention?"

"Yes."

"If he's still not listening at the end of detention, just come over here and clarify for her. She's probably thinking that she's all set with this detention."

"No problem," Kurenai replied, sounding very tired. "I'm having a glass of wine when I get home, that's for sure."

To that, Kakashi smiled. "We all have days like that. See you later, and enjoy your weekend.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** At some point, somewhere, in your lives, you're going to have a conference like that. You're just going to. Prepare for it. If you're lucky, you might survive it. 

But I do have to admit, it was funny a heck writing it. :P

That detention from hell, by the way, is yet again a real story. Two boys, both pranksters, were in the same room and just feeding off each other so badly that I ended up taking one of them to my room just to separate them, while the other one was completely asinine. Kids are sometimes horrible.


	11. Week 10

**November: Week Ten**

* * *

"You're late!" 

"Sorry I'm late, I flipping through the dictionary to see if there was a word longer than antidisestablishmentarianism. I haven't found one yet."

Kakashi slouched down into his chair and flipped open his book. "There are some big events coming up," he mentioned. "Report cards go out tomorrow and Parent/Teacher conferences are Friday. On top of that next week is Thanksgiving Break, so we're going to have to decide what to do with Homeroom Challenge. Oh, and we have that newsletter to do."

Iruka, who had been writing furiously, looked up. "Is there anything else you want to add to the agenda?" he asked with more than an ounce of trite.

"Okay, when are the headbands coming in for the fundraiser?" the English teacher added. Iruka admitted defeat.

"They should be in at the end of the week," Kurenai replied. "Mother wants as many as possible made so she won't have to go back to the project. It's easy enough to make, but she does have other clients to think about. We should have about two hundred headbands when all is said and done. I figure we can do the sale after break, and spend this week and next advertising."

"Then we'll want to put up something in announcements," Asuma suggested. He tugged at the end of his own headband as he spoke. The entire team had taken to wearing them everyday as a sort of quite ad campaign. "Let me drop by the office and let them know."

"You'd better had an ad already written up," Iruka called out as the math teacher headed towards the door. "They won't do the writing for you."

Asuma saluted before leaving, and Iruka went back to taking notes.

"Any other upcoming fundraisers we should worry about?"

"Student council handed out boxes this morning for their can drive, did everyone get one?" Kakashi asked. They all nodded. "Good, next month they'll probably do a gift drive for Christmas. There's also going to be a dance next month, too; but nothing in the immediate future."

Gai glanced up from browsing through a catalog. "Do we know how much in funding we currently have?" he asked.

"Ask Asuma when he gets back. Why?"

"I have found some very interesting posters and pencils in here, and I wish to order them for our flourishing youth. I have heard no word of freezing our budget this year."

"Our fingers are all crossed on that one," Iruka replied. "I remember my first year here, they froze the budget three weeks into school. We couldn't buy _anything_."

"Ah, yes, the year without paper," Kakashi reminisced. "I'd rather not relive that. Let's move on."

"Parent/Teacher conferences. The Hyuga's have already emailed me twice about when they're going to be."

Iruka dug through a separate folder than the team notes and pulled out a sheaf of paper. "Friday three to five and seven to nine."

"Two sessions?" Kurenai asked.

"It _is_ a big school," Iruka explained. "Plus some parents can never be sure of when they can get off work or had night shifts, etcetera. One of the quirks of urban poor, I guess."

"It's another long day," Kakashi offered, flipping a page in his book. "We'll probably go out for dinner again. I want to do a team session like last year, it worked out really well."

"I've scheduled it for the second hour, not the first," Iruka said, continuing to take notes. "We're so tired by the time eight o'clock rolls around, it would be better to have more people to fire at than one tired teacher."

"Well put," Gai agreed.

"The sign up is in the office," Kakashi said, "The parents have been coming in since last week. My blocks are already full."

Iruka grinned. "It must suck to be popular. I only have three people coming in across my two blocks."

"Lucky bastard."

Everyone chuckled.

"Grades will have just come out," Kakashi continued, "you can use that for whatever presentations you're making to the parents. The Haruno's are spreading across our individual sessions, and the Hyuga's are signed up for our last slot of the evening team session."

Iruka groaned. "What a way to end the night. We'll be there 'til ten."

"Kurenai, it's also a good idea to have student work with you, give parents a snapshot of what you're doing. Some parents, I know for a fact, will only show up to find out why their kid is failing. Some of them are downright confrontational about it."

"I've been through this before," Kurenai said. "I know what to do."

"I think we can do the newsletter next week," Gai offered after a moment of thought. "The conferences will be over with, and we can then inform the dutiful parents that could not come of it's success and offer the week after next for private sessions if they still want to meet."

"That's a good idea," Iruka said, making a note of it.

Asuma finally returned and joined them. "Something's rotten in the state of Denmark," he said. "The office is abuzz with cops." Seeing the collection of interested gazes, he continued. "I didn't get all of it, but there was something about a sixth grader breaking down when one of the teachers showed her the grade she was getting. Something about getting the belt with a grade like that. Tsunade was talking to someone about old and recent scars." He paused, his face darkening. "It's times like this I remember exactly where I teach."

"It's not exactly a bed of flowers, this school," Kakashi agreed. "But then, if we were teaching anywhere else, we wouldn't be nearly as satisfied with the work that we do. It's why we're here." Kakashi kept his promises, after all.

"I would like to inform this splendid team that I will be absent Wednesday, because like my Eternal Rival I will be attending a regional conference across state boarders. I shall strive to fair better then our beloved Scarecrow, and in doing so I shall advance my lead even further!"

"... Whatever."

* * *

While nothing spectacular happened Tuesday, the overall noise as students received their report cards and saw their grades was about expected. Some were cheering that they did so well to start off the year (giving them cart blanch to completely blow off the rest of the year, whether they realized that fact or not), while others lamented violently about how dismal their year was beginning. Kakashi bared it all with flat-faced indifference. After all, _he_ wasn't the one that assigned the grades, the _kids_ were. So long as they did the work, tried their hardest, and turned it in, they passed. No work no credit, it was one of the many phrases he repeated until he was blue in the face; but kids at the tender age of twelve didn't truly understand it - often not until they were grown up did they realize that they earned the things that they got: their wages, their promotions, etc. 

Wednesday, however, was when things got interesting.

Gai had a substitute. With that knowledge came the inevitability of his room being louder than normal, because whoever was in there could never be enough. It was simply impossible for a person that was going to come in for only one day to ever hold enough sway to keep a class quiet and well behaved. It was the way of things. Besides that, because the sub was only there for the one day, the students automatically (the world over) thought the day was a freebee to talk, take a study hall, and do various things to try test and overall see how much they could annoy said sub.

The team all agreed to back up subs whenever the inevitable disaster happened. There was one time when Kakashi was out, years ago, when Asuma and the old special ed teacher made a point of telling their classes that they were going to get popcorn and sit out in front of Kakashi's C period class because of how horrible they had been to the sub. Kakashi had, on several occasions, stepped into a sub's room randomly to remind the students that there would be Trouble if they misbehaved.

That Wednesday was one for the record books, however.

Various shouts, shrieks, and clanks filtered across the hall through Kakashi's open door and into his unsurprised ears. As the morning progressed, he heard the buzz of the students about some of the things going on in Gai's classes, and he had to remind himself (several times) that children were prone to exaggeration and to not take what they were saying seriously. The clincher, however, came D period, SSR. Kakashi had to _put down his book_ because he could not concentrate. The second student had asked to go to the bathroom, and in _Kakashi's_ class, that was unheard of. It was then that a theory struck him, and as an experiment he let the student go. Watching from where he was leaning by the window, he saw the student go out his door and then mill around the hall, clearly bobbing his head to get a look at what was happening across the hall in Gai's room and. . . Iruka's room?

Sensing that boundaries of all kinds were being crossed, Kakashi got up. "Sakura, you're in charge," he said passing by her desk. His voice was tightly controlled and only she heard the directive, but she nodded her understanding and put her book down to watch the class and make sure they were reading. Sasuke, too, put his book down and tucked it under his cast to help her.

The English teacher's moment to revel in that was null, however, because he saw two things when he stepped outside. One was that more than just his class was asking for bathroom passes. Also, a glance in Iruka's room showed that the Special Ed teacher was having difficulty with his resource. One level glare dispersed the collection of kids in the hall, and Kakashi stuck his head briefly into Iruka's room. Naruto was at his desk, trying and failing to concentrate, while Kiba and Chouji were animatedly talking about whatever was happening on the other side of the wall that they shared with Gai's room. The noise carried even better here through the concrete, and Iruka was clearly nonplused as he tried to get everyone to concentrate.

"My room," Kakashi said.

Iruka nodded and made the announcement even as Kakashi left. "Alright, Naruto, Chouji, Gaara, Kiba, Takato, and Hanamaru, to Kakashi's room right now."

Gai's room was a site to behold, meanwhile.

After four periods of untold horror, the room physically was a mess. Handouts littered the floor, ripped and stepped on and mostly incomplete. None of the desks were where they were supposed to be, the neat rows hopelessly lost in a nonsensical collection of clusters and groups, some students so hopelessly buried there was no chance of leaving their desks unless someone else moved. There was an odd blue goo oozing over one of Gai's filing cabinets, and not one but three students were at his computer browsing the internet. Paper, paper clips, pencils, and a purse were all airborne, to say nothing about the whiteboard markers. The overhead projector was on and several "pictures" littered the face of the overhead.

The sub was in the middle of the room, her hair disheveled and wild look in her eyes as she tried to maintain a calm voice and get a collection of girls to hand over the whiteboard markers. There was a cut on her face, and Ino's bare arm also sported a small slash. The noise was horrific, everyone was shouting to the top of their lungs to be heard; there were at least a half dozen people laughing uproariously, and the rest were all shouting at once. Only one student - Hyuga Hinata - sat on the floor by the door with her hands over her ears as she tried in vain to read.

A marker bounced off his head, and only then did the students realize that the English teacher was there. But even _that_ warning bell did not register to the class mob.

"The title of this class is _Sustained Silent Reading_." Kakashi had excellent voice control, and it carried over everyone and bombarded his or her ears. They fell silent immediately, but any hope of redemption had now come and gone. "Sensei," Kakashi said, his voice now quiet but hard as steel. "You are bleeding."

The sub blinked, putting a hand to her cheek and pulling it away to see the faint specks of blood. The wild look in her eyes hardened to ice and she turned to the girls. "Give. Them. To. Me. Now."

"But--"

"_NOW!!_" The shriek carried, Kakashi later discovered, all the way to Asuma's room. The girls complied, stunned at the volume.

Kakashi looked to Yamanaka Ino. "How old are you?"

"Twelve, Kakashi-sensei," she said quietly, trying to look demure.

"And you, Ryoko? Yuzuhi? Shiori? Kentaro?" One by one every single student listed off his or her ages.

"Hinata? How old are you?"

"U-uhm, I'm... I'm twelve, Kakashi-sensei," she stammered.

"Congratulations, you're the only person in this room that actually acted their age. Go finish reading in my room while I talk to the babies." Hinata grabbed her book and fled as he lifted his headband. "Now," Kakashi began, leveling both of his eyes at the class. "Get your desks where they're supposed to be and sit in your assigned seats. You have until the count of five: One, two, three..."

The class scrambled to get everything the way it was supposed to be.

"Everyone sits properly: backs straight, both feet on the floor, both hands on the desks where I can see them."

Again, they complied.

"For a bunch of kids who are twelve years old and complain constantly that they want to be treated like adults, you all, as of right now, the sorriest collection of immature babies that I've ever seen. Preschoolers behave better than you. Unacceptable isn't even the word for it. Deplorable might be better. You can look that word up in the dictionary later. I can honestly say that I am ashamed to be called your teacher. I'm ashamed to have any association with you, that I even know you. I pity your parents that they have to put up with such disreputable behavior as this day in and day out. That's another word I expect you to research in the dictionary. When a teacher is going to be absent, it is your responsibility to show the substitute the same courtesy and respect you show your teacher - perhaps even more, because your behavior is a direct reflection on the teacher. You are not only embarrassing yourselves and your parents, you're embarrassing Gai-sensei, who trusted you to do what the substitute tells you, because it comes directly from his mouth.

"Gai-sensei is going to come in tomorrow, and he's going to make you wish that _I_ was the one dealing with you. The substitute is going to make a detailed list about what happened, as I am - and _I_ know all your names. You are not going to cry your way, talk your way, complain your way, or defend your way out of this. Retribution comes tomorrow, so you'd better prepare for it. I'm going to go back to my room now, and I'm going to leave my door and my ear open. I'd better be able to hear a pin drop for _the rest of the day. Is that clear_?"

Silence.

"I said is that clear?"

"Yes, sensei," someone mumbled.

Kakashi turned to the substitute. "They shouldn't give you any more troubles, sensei," he said congenially, finally dropping back into his singsong voice and dropping his head band back over his scarred eye. "Any trouble makers, kick them to my room."

"Which room is that?" the sub asked.

"Across the hall, Kakashi-sensei's room."

"I'll be sure to," the sub replied, and gave an icy glare to the SSR class.

Word spread through the grade like wildfire about Kakashi's riot act, and the sub didn't have to send into another student until Temari during the last period.

* * *

Furious didn't even begin to cover Gai's reaction as he heard about what happened. The minute he saw Kakashi walking down the hall the next morning the social studies teacher stomped towards him. The students smartly parted and gave him room. 

"Kakashi-sensei! Is this... this... is this true?!" he demanded, waiving pieces of paper that were clearly the sub notes. He snatched the paper out from Gai's hands and took a moment to read the notes. He raised his hidden eyebrow at the accuracy of not only the events, but the descriptions of students the sub could not identify. The notes consisted of three pages covering the first four periods, half of which was devoted to the infamous D period.

"Yep, she covered just about everything."

"You mean to say those... those... _kids_ did everything written down there?!"

For Gai of all people to use the word "kids" instead of "youth" was testament in itself of how pissed off he was, and Kakashi threw a meaningful look around the hall, noting which students were paying rapt attention. Finally, he replied, "Just about, yes. If you want a more detailed account, you can ask her." Kakashi threw a sidelong glance to the timid Hinata, a gaze only Gai picked up on, saving the grey-eyed girl from retribution for "telling." The social studies teacher saw it but was too far into seething to react to it.

"I will not stand for this!! It is an outrage and an insult to the very duty of a student! What were they thinking!" He was not even trying to calm his voice, and Kakashi realized it was at least partly deliberate, to warn the students the hellfire and damnation was about to fall down heavily about their ears.

Kakashi, more than happy to play it up, replied, "They weren't. Wasn't that obvious?"

"There will be retribution!!"

Kakashi openly grinned. "Have fun with that. If you run out of ways to torture them, I'll be more than happy to share some of my more successful ideas."

Kakashi was more than a little curious about what Gai was doing, but paid him proper courtesy and kept his door closed. The students were also anxious about what was to happen, and Kakashi spent most of his morning squishing and squashing them to get back to work.

His excuse for being late was his department head, who needed a more concrete outline of how his curriculum was coming along. Kakashi had enjoyed a full fifteen minutes delaying, hemming and hawing, and overall stepping around the entire question just to get a rise out of her. It was great fun, really, and filled up the last few minutes of lunch and the first few minutes of team.

When he strolled in casually and offered his excuse to Iruka, he sat down and looked right at Gai. "What'd you do?" he asked.

"Yes, this I want to hear," Asuma said, grinning. "Naruto was positively white when he walked into homeroom this morning; I think half the school heard you bitching about what happened."

"I gave and will give all of my classes a verbal lashing twice as painful as the humiliation my Eternal Rival dealt them, a beautiful collection of words about honor and responsibility and thoughtful attention to directives. Then I made them write two letters of apology, one to me and one to the substitute. The latter was a general apology, but the former I explained was a graded assignment; they were to not only apologize for their behavior, but they are to detail explicitly every sin they committed and outline how they will rectify this behavior next time. On top of that, I had them state their goals for my class and list five ways they would go about achieving that goal. Those that finished before the end of the period spent the remainder of the time sitting straight and perfectly silent."

"Keeping a kid still is the best way to torture them," Kakashi agreed philosophically.

"Their detentions will be even worse. Those whose behavior was deplorable to the extreme will be spending their detentions with me running laps in the gym for the entire duration of the detention."

"Physical torture on top of it? Nice touch," Asuma said.

"While I'm sure we all want to wallow in various ways to torture students," Iruka said, finishing up that particular note, "I think we really need to talk about Homeroom Challenge. We're not going to have a lot of time next week."

"I've been meaning to ask, what is it exactly?" Kurenai offered.

"Okay," Asuma said, leaning back in his chair and preparing for a long explanation. "It's a thing our team does. On days before vacations, like Wednesday next week, or before Christmas break or what have you, the students, frankly, are too absorbed in the vacation to be able to get any work out of them. So we don't even put up the pretext of trying to get them to work. Instead, each room sets up a series of challenges and activities, and over the course of the day the students rotate around the rooms to do the challenges. The bell schedule is completely ignored except for specials, C and E period this year.

"For example, Kakashi always does locker cleanout, he mans the halls as the students filter through and try to organize their lockers. I usually do mind benders, logic problems, and brainteasers. Iruka does word searches or crosswords or pictionary with vocab from all the classes, things like that. The old science teacher would do a variation on something she did in class, a science current events kind of thing. Gai does a current events Jeopardy game, that sort of thing. They rotate about every ten to twenty minutes.

"After E period, we settle down for movies that they sign up for. Of which, we have to decide the movies and make the announcement in homeroom tomorrow so that they can start signing up for it."

"I'm doing the Cardcaptor Sakura movie," Kakashi said, raising his hand. He always made a point of showing some kind of anime movie.

"I have decided on Pirates of the Caribbean," Gai said.

"And I was thinking of Finding Nemo," Iruka said, writing all of this down.

"I think I'll do one of the Spider-man movies," Asuma said, thinking about it. "I have to dig up which one I have."

Kurenai blinked, mentally running through her list of movies. "They're all under thirteen, that makes it difficult," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Shrek, I guess," she finally decided, "since we have a theme of summer blockbusters."

"Good, now that that's all settled," Iruka said, "here. I'm going to go to the office and see if anyone else has signed up for me tomorrow night."

"Could you look up mine, too?" Kakashi asked. He already knew it, but he liked annoying Iruka.

"Oh, and me," Kurenai asked.

"Me as well," Gai added.

"Throw me in while you're there," Asuma said, "and the team blocks too, while you're at it."

The all grinning innocently while Iruka muttered ugly words under his breath.

* * *

Friday was a _loooooooooong_ day. The idea was simple enough; split the parents across two different sessions so more of them would show. Put the sessions on the same day to get it all over with in one swoop - at least that's what the vice principal said three years ago when he started this. What Ebisu failed to realize (and never, ever listened to) was that it was very, very draining to talk to over twenty parents (assuming the ideal that they each took only ten minutes - that never happened) in one day. Kakashi and other teachers had brought it up several times, and some had even bothered the old man about it. When Sandaime was ever cornered, he would listen diligently, and then say: "Is this really a battle worth picking?" Most of them shut up after that, because there were so many other things worth complaining about. 

That Friday was downright nightmarish - a full day of teaching with students acutely aware that their parents were coming (Kakashi played that to his advantage, of course) and then almost as soon as the buses left the halls began to fill with parents.

Kakashi had a full schedule, the price of being a popular teacher (though how the students decided he would be popular when there were much more amiable teachers like Gai or Iruka), and he was immediately assaulted with the one parent he could not deal with: Yondaime.

"Yo!" the tall blond man said, a hand raised so much like _him_, a trait that Kakashi himself mimicked.

Kakashi steeled himself and raised his hand in an odd mirror of the gesture. "Yo."

They sat down, and Naruto dashed in and skid to a halt. "Sorry!" he apologized, "Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme had some questions about tonight's homework so I had to save their asses."

Yondaime grinned. "Sure you did," he replied. "That's the only real question I have for you, Kakashi-sensei," he added, turning to the English teacher. "My new little brat over here," he gestured to the blond Naruto, "seems to have a screw loose."

"More than 'a' screw," Kakashi replied blithely, proud he was managing to act normal.

"True," Yondaime laughed, and Kakashi felt his gut clench. It was _still_ the same laugh. "What I mean is, I've had him for a while now, and I'm starting to notice a few things. One, this kid is not nearly as dumb as everyone seems to think."

"Damn straight!" Naruto piped up.

Both adults grinned.

Yondaime continued: "I've been working with him on that book in your class, and he struggles with the words, yes; reading is very difficult for him, but his ability to conceptualize the story is phenomenal. Once he takes hold of something, he doesn't let go until he understands every inch of it."

"I've known that since about the second week of school," Kakashi agreed, nodding. "That's why I put him in the literary group that I did. He can handle the higher order thinking that pops out of his teammates, and his own thought process is different enough to generate his own spins and opinions that will give them pause. I wish very badly that I was a fly on the wall the first time they got together after school. I can picture it very clearly: One of them would have the assignment already done and wanted to spend the time oogling, the other brought in the work and just wanted to get it done, and Naruto would come in with all kinds of questions that - at first - would drive the other two crazy with their seeming stupidity, until he gets to his point and then both would stare."

Naruto stared at Kakashi, wide eyed, mouth agape. "Sensei, are you sure you _weren't_ a fly on the wall?"

"Hm. Maybe I was."

"Haha! Kakashi-sensei, I like you!" Something warm sparked in Kakashi's chest, and he was suddenly brought back to that time in his life when he was there, ruffling his hair, taking care of him, teaching him, looking out for him. That time after his father died and everyone was so certain that Kakashi would follow in his footsteps. He blinked and fought to compartmentalize the feeling.

"If you're wondering about the gaps," he said, "the better one to talk to is Iruka-sensei. My guess is that because he's been jumping families so much there generated gaps. It's hard to focus on education when you're wondering where you're staying this month."

"Okay, I'll go bug him, then. Thanks for talking to me."

Five whole minutes of free time until the next parent came in. Kakashi utilized it to bring himself back to balance.

The first hour, after Yondaime, went really well. There was a continual stream of parents and Kakashi dealt with, and after a while they all blurred together. Before he knew it, the hour was up, and he finished off with the parents he was on, Temari's, and got up, leaving his room to walk around Kurenai's corner and into Asuma's room, where the math teacher had bunched two tables together and he and the other teachers were on one side, the first set of parents, the Haruno's, on the other.

"Sorry I'm late," he offered, taking his seat.

"According to Sakura that's quite a common occurrence," the father said, smiling congenially.

"The road of life has a lot of interesting twists and turns, and I always seem to get lost in a back alley," Kakashi replied, equally genially. He liked these parents right off.

The team shared what they thought of Sakura, Gai and Asuma giving them sample pieces of her work and Kurenai and Gai sharing her most recent test grade. They all agreed that she was a conscientious student who was very concerned about her grade and put a lot of work into everything she did.

The Haruno's were pleased.

"We only have two real questions," the mother said. "The first is she's always having these two boys coming over. She says it's for class, but..."

"Let me guess," Kakashi said, "One's a loud blond and the other is a quite black haired boy that Sakura spends her time oogling and drooling over."

"I don't know that I would have used that word, but yes."

"That's my class," the English teacher said. "I've split the class into literary groups, and they work on a book together and answer the packet questions I hand out to each of them. They are easily the best team in that class, and I look forward to when they really start to work together."

"I see. Our last question then is how she's doing in science. It's always been a struggle for her."

Kurenai blinked. "Really? You wouldn't know it in my class. She's one of the brightest students in my B period. I'm always using her to answer questions that no one else would answer."

"Oh! Well, that's good to hear," the father said.

The rest of the hour went about the same, and when five o'clock finally rolled around, the team wordlessly dragged themselves to Asuma's van and drove down the street to their restaurant. Dinner started off quietly enough, everyone too focused on eating and getting energy to really strike up conversation; but it did finally happen as they finished up. Iruka was rubbing his shoulder, rolling it around and trying to elicit a crack.

"Bothering you?" Asuma asked.

"Eh, it gets achy when I'm tired like this. I have a doctor's appointment next week after Thanksgiving."

"Not another surgery?" Gai asked.

"Surgery?" Kurenai asked, shocked.

"Oh, no," Iruka said, finally getting the pop he wanted. "Much better. I'm not scheduled for another surgery until summer. I can't afford to take a day off anyway." Seeing Kurenai's puzzled look, he flushed. "Sorry, I keep forgetting you're new. I was in a car crash two years ago, really bad. It's where I got this scar, among a slew of others. I've gone through five surgeries to fix all the damage, mostly in my hip and knee. There are two more to go through before I'm done."

"But why wait so long?"

"Because my body needs the time to heal from the surgeries and mend the work they did, make it stronger. That sort of thing. In really cold weather, or when I'm really tired like right now, I get all achy and poppy. Probably will for the rest of my life."

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that," Kurenai offered. "If there's ever anything I can do let me know."

Iruka grinned. "I will. Thanks."

Well, after that they saw the time and dragged themselves back to school. Kakashi already had a line in front of his room, and it wasn't even a quarter to seven. He offered polite greetings as he opened his door and started the cycle all over again.

He rounded off with Shino's father, the spitting image of his son. "He seems troubled with one of his 'teammates' in your class," he said, after hearing what the English teacher had to say.

"Oh, that will change with time," Kakashi said. "His team takes some prodding sometimes, but it's the perfect opportunity to give him training in leadership. Shino has a quick mind, but he doesn't really know how to put it to its best use. I deliberately paired him with two people that he would have to take charge of: a girl who tries hard but is painfully shy, and a boy that can pull his weight but needs some poking to do it. Once Shino understands that he has near complete control over them, it will go much better. Right now he just sort of assumes that they'll do what they're supposed to on their own."

"I see. That's very interesting."

And that was all he said.

The team hour went much the same, and the dread increased as they prepared for the last meeting of the evening: the Hyugas.

The head of the family himself, accompanied by his brother, along with Neji, Hinata, and her little sister. "Hello everyone," the head said.

"Hyuga-san," Kakashi said, beginning the meeting. The team rattled off their observations of Hinata, that she was a steady and hard worker, that she always gave her all in what she did, that they all wanted to see her stand up more and have a voice.

"If you have such good things to say," the head of the family said casting a frosty glance at his daughter, "then why does she have Cs in all of her classes but science?"

"She does her best," Kakashi said mildly. "It's not her fault she freezes up during a test because she knows what will happen if she doesn't get an A."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" the head asked, leveling his frosty glare to the English teacher.

"Just making an observation," Kakashi drawled. "She has her cousin Neji who is a genius, straight As in all his classes without ever studying was the rumor. Ruins curves, is not shy about showing off how smart he is. She has a little sister that's reportedly as smart as Neji, the star of the elementary school. The parents, of course, were all intelligent in school and got As. Now Hinata comes along and she is blessedly normal, which in such a family is considered abnormal. I can only guess at the pressure she must be under. I'm sure you don't do anything to pressure her," Kakashi went on genially, knowing full well that they, in fact, did, "but she also puts the pressure on herself, and in turn completely shuts down if she doesn't know the answer right away.

"I feel sorry for her," he concluded.

The entire family, sans Hinata of course, gave him an ice-cold glare. He only smiled in response. "Am I wrong?" he asked.

The Hyuga clan glared for a full minute before getting up and leaving.

"Good. Now we can leave when we want," Kakashi grinned.

"You just made enemies of the Hyuga family and you're happy you can leave on time?" Iruka demanded. "He'll have your job!"

"Maa," Kakashi drew out, admiring the shocked faces of his team. "I doubt it."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Having been subs for several years between us, I want it known that that this chapter doesn't even scratch the surface of what subs go through when they come in to cover classes. And this was a comparatively good day, because after Kakashi's lecture the classes became quiet, that and the sub has the support of the team. It's ten times worse when you're flying solo with no one around you to give you support. We've even been yelled at for throwing kids out of a room. 

And you're probably not interested in that in the slightest. You want to know more about the plate spinning with all the teacher conferences. Well, there certainly was a lot, but most of them aren't going to come to fruition until much later in the year, so just sit tight and keep reading!

**Vixkill**: We're glad you're enjoying the story, as well as anyone else who's reading. .


	12. Week 11

**November: Week Eleven**

* * *

Monday showed that, yes the kids knew it was a three-day week and, yes, they already knew about Homeroom Challenge on Wednesday. So why work Monday and Tuesday? Still, Kakashi and his team could not be deterred and squished the student body into doing their assignments. During their prep period, Iruka and Kakashi wandered down to the office to do a PPT with Gaara's guardian, his uncle Yashamaru. 

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi drawled as he and Iruka came in.

"That's fine," Orochimaru smiled. "It would seem that you're still early."

Kakashi raised an unseen eyebrow behind his _hitae-ate_. "Someone's later than me? I must be slipping." Iruka chuckled against his will.

Sitting down, Ebisu walked in and took a seat; apparently he'd be part of this PPT as well. While waiting, the Scarecrow and special education teacher chatted about how to go about the week, who would probably be the most trouble Wednesday, etc, as well as going over their concerns about Gaara.

It was almost halfway through C period when a flushed, and rushed, young man with shoulder-length blond hair appeared at the conference room door. "Sorry!" he cried out, "my manager didn't like me leaving early."

"Quite alright," Orochimaru started. "We just want to go over a few things with you, update you on your nephew's progress, and share a few concerns."

"Would you like something to drink?" Ebisu offered, gesturing to the coffee behind him at a small desk.

"I'm fine, thanks," Yashamaru replied, falling into a chair. Glancing at his wrist, he said, "I can't stay long. My boss wants me back in a half hour."

"We'll try to be brief. I'm Gaara's English teacher, Kakashi-sensei, and this is Iruka-sensei, the special education teacher. Iruka-sensei is in almost all of Gaara's classes."

Yashamaru nodded. "So what's up?"

This wasn't starting well. Kakashi knew that Gaara's parents had died a few years ago, leaving Yashamaru, his only relative in the area, to take care of him. But the redhead was SED, and needed a lot of support both at home as well as school. The Scarecrow wasn't sure if Yashamaru was ready for the responsibility of "parenthood", and the uncle in question wasn't doing much to assuage his concerns.

Iruka flipped through his notebook, where he kept all the information ever discussed during team time, as well as any observations that the team mentioned, even in passing. "I'm pleased that Gaara is maintaining his pointsheet, and his grades are remaining steady. However, there is the concern of his frequently leaving--"

"Gaara is found wandering the halls far too frequently," Ebisu interrupted. "He'll get a pass and won't return to class for almost a half-hour. If this keeps up, he'll end up on pass restriction, maybe even escort. In order to avoid this, we think you should start laying down some rules at home."

Kakashi frowned. Ebisu was a _good_ vice principal for the students. He supported teachers with referrals and always did fair punishment with the kids, but he sucked at his people skills involving adults. Yes, Yashamaru was young, but he was an adult. Their bespectacled vice principal was coming down on Gaara's uncle like he was just another student, and that wasn't right. They wanted_support_ not to make an _enemy_ out of Gaara's family.

"What our vice principal means," Kakashi tried to smooth over, "is that while you haven't done anything wrong, we have a few suggestions that might help. Students cooperate best when what goes on in school matches what goes on at home. They know what to expect."

"We don't like to see Gaara missing so much class," Iruka picked up. "He'll miss material he needs for assignments, and loses time to learn how to interact with peers, an essential skill on his IEP that he _needs_ to work on."

"How do you know," Yashamaru drew out, "that he's missing so much class?"

The special education teacher flipped through his notebook. "As early as the third week in September, Kakashi-sensei noticed Gaara's tendency to be late to homeroom, two to three times a week. In October, Asuma-sensei, our math teacher, was going through his sign out sheets like he usually does and noted that Gaara would leave his class last period and never come back. Last week, Kurenai-sensei, science, banned him from leaving her classroom after leaving for over a half-hour for the fifth time, and Gai-sensei, social studies, noticed how long it takes for Gaara to get form Kakashi's room across the hall to his room first period."

Yashamaru's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "I'll speak with him. Call me if he's late or missing again. I'll talk with him again." He glanced at his watch again. "I have to be going."

Kakashi hid a sigh, but got up to shake his hand.

Glancing on his own to the clock on the wall, he noted that they were ten minutes into SSR. Together, Kakashi and Iruka walked back down the hall to their corner of the building, just in time to see a sour Chouji leaving Iruka's room.

"And where are you off to?" Iruka asked.

"To ISS."

"Oh?"

Chouji looked away. "Sensei says I was stealing her food, but I wasn't."

Iruka nodded. "Go on down. I'll talk to her." The special education teacher paused at his door. "It's going to be one of those weeks, isn't it?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's only three days."

Iruka snorted.

* * *

Tuesday was relatively uneventful. Kakashi and Asuma both had tests for their classes, meaning they could start fresh when they came back from vacation. Kurenai had a Thanksgiving-themed lab and Gai was showing a video on the pilgrims and the significance of the uniquely American holiday. The kids noticed the mostly-relaxed day and proved to be remarkably well behaved. Kakashi wasn't certain, but it might have had something to do about all of them telling their homerooms that if they behaved badly, they wouldn't get their precious Homeroom Challenge on Wednesday. 

Still, Kakashi came into work smiling on the day before Thanksgiving. He enjoyed Homeroom Challenge because he always did locker clean-out and it gave him a wonderful chance to listen to the local gossip. Students were abuzz during homeroom, speculating what the challenges would be, sharing what siblings of previous years had done and theorizing on tricks to cheat through each challenge, whatever they may be, mainly by talking to friends in the halls. Some students may gain that advantage, but Kakashi knew from past experience that the thrill of the moment and the competition to prove your homeroom best, especially with a grade like this one, would drown out most cheaters.

There was the occasional asking of what movie they'd signed up for, but friends seeking to be together had already been discussed in-depth over Monday and Tuesday when they were signing up for movies. However, Kakashi was pleased to note that some students were chagrined over what movie to chose. He couldn't help but smile.

He'd already told his homeroom that their time with him would be locker clean out, so when the bell rang for "class" to begin, they all filed out into the halls, where Kakashi had a large garbage can there for the students use, thanks to his long standing deal with the janitorial staff. So, Kakashi leaned back near the fountain in the hall and let his ears wander amongst the students. Gaara was there and in a sour mood, taking just about everything from his locker and dumping it without even looking. The English teacher had to pull the redhead three times for him to fish books out of the trashcan since they were texts he needed for various classes. Kakashi noted, not for the first time, that Gaara had dark circles under his eyes.

"Not sleeping?" he asked nonchalantly.

Gaara glared at him, his green eyes flashing. "None of your business. Leave me alone. Things were fine until you butted in."

So Yashamaru _did_ speak to Gaara. Good.

"Come now, what makes you say that?"

Grasping his head to forestall a headache, Gaara ignored him and went back to his locker.

Kiba and Hinata were side by side, discussing the homework that they had over vacation.

"Ummm, you and Shino could come over to my house this weekend. We-ah-we could get some extra work done, try to get ahead..."

Kiba was shaking his head. "I'm working all vacation." Concerns raised up a notch. It was law that once students were of age to work (at sixteen), that they could only work a limited number of hours while in school and up to ten-o'clock on a school night. Kiba was only twelve. What kind of place outside a paper-route, would hire a child for such a grueling schedule? Or was Kiba lining up job after job without letting his employers know his working time? In either case it was illegal, unless Kiba was going around doing chores for neighbors and the like. Those kind of off-the-books work, like lawn-mowing or yardwork was always being done and the laws never took those kind of jobs to court yet, at least as far as Kakashi knew.

He made a mental note to get in touch with Kiba's father after vacation. Kiba's work ethic was good, but at this age, he should be having some level of fun. Especially over a holiday weekend.

Sakura, he noted, was unusually quiet. Kakashi had been _trying_ to pry open Team 7's silence with a sledgehammer all of last week and this week, ranging from subtle probes to more direct hammering. _Still_ he came up with nothing. It was starting to gnaw at the back of his brain. Something was up, something bad, but Kakashi just couldn't figure out _what_ and it was driving him back to insanity.

Taking another glance around, the Scarecrow noted that kids were settling more into talking than cleaning, so he ushered them back into his room, letting the janitor he had on standby switch out garbage bags, and letting the students just talk. Sakura kept glancing at him, so he let his presence be approachable, offering a friendly smile, but the student council secretary never came over. Grr.

The next homeroom for Kakashi to observe in the halls was Iruka's. Nothing overly noteworthy happened, save for Hanamaru and Takashi getting into a tug-of-war over a jacket of some kind. They were both sent to Ebisu when they wouldn't stop, and Kakashi locked both their lockers. Iruka would deal with them later.

Gai's students were next, as Kakashi once more took his place by their lockers, listening. Shikamaru was complaining constantly through the entire cleanout how "troublesome" this task was, and, given that his locker didn't even need cleaning and met Kakashi's inspection at first glance, he was entirely justified.

"So, Shikamaru, how's eighth grade math treating you?"

"The eight graders are so troublesome."

Kakashi smiled. "I understand that you've been spending your Resource with Asuma-sensei."

"Ah. He's the only one who lets me play shogi."

The smile grew as the two just leaned against the wall, watching students clean out their lockers. Until, however, Kakashi saw Kankuro take Manami's purse and put it in the garbage can. When she noticed it was gone, almost immediately, she started what Asuma had aptly called a "bitch fight" with Yuzuhi before Kakashi could get there. All three were sent to Ebisu's office. Kankuro, it seemed, thought everyone was a puppet for him to pull the strings of. They were going to have to figure out how to put a stop to that after break.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru commented.

The Scarecrow agreed, and once most of the kids were done, he shoo-ed them back into his room and let them have their few minutes of chatter. So far, nothing of major importance had come up, just students talking about where they'd be going or who'd be coming over for Thanksgiving. Shikamaru, after some prodding, mentioned that he and Chouji would be over to Ino's house on Sunday to do some of Kurenai's homework and how troublesome Ino was.

"Is she still treating you poorly?" If she was, he would pull her from the group just like he had promised when he'd first created the team.

"No," the bored student snorted. "She's pushy. It's her way or no way, but at least she's not calling us 'speds' anymore, no matter how true it is."

Kakashi leveled a glare.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "She's got it in her head that I'm a genius and is trying to pawn all the work off onto me. Just so she can plot how to get that troublesome Sasuke."

"She's not pulling her weight?"

He shrugged. "She'll do part of it, she just hasn't gotten around to helping us out yet unless we corner her."

Kakashi smiled. Shikamaru and Chouji were forcing Ino to work with them. He couldn't wait to share that during team time. Maybe she'd start to see the worth of her teammates soon. He couldn't question Asuma's prize student anymore, however, since it was time to switch and Kurenai's homeroom headed right for their lockers. Kakashi rounded the corner to where her lockers were to watch over them as they cleaned out.

Shino, like Shikamaru in the previous homeroom, didn't need to clean out his locker. So the quiet, bespectacled boy stood by Kakashi, watching students try and figure out if whatever papers they dug out of their lockers were necessary or not.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Is what you told my dad true?"

"Is it?"

"You think I could... lead them?"

Today was just a day for smiling, Kakashi decided. "That's up to you. You've seen how I lead my classroom, how Asuma-sensei leads his, and Kurenai-sensei, and Gai-sensei. We're all 'leaders', but there are different approaches to leadership. Every president we have may have different goals, but they also have different ways to get their goals. Some might use force, some might bargain, some might just talk. No method is wrong. You just need to find what works for you."

"I see. That's very interesting," Shino echoed his father.

They stood side by side in comfortable silence, watching Chouji eat any food that students found in their lockers, no matter how old. (Kakashi drew a line with moldy and fuzzy foods. He ordered everyone to stop "eating" and get back to cleaning at that point.) The only other occurrence he had to deal with was Temari arguing with another girl over something or other. Kurenai, Kakashi decided, had a very nice, quiet homeroom.

Finally, Asuma's homeroom arrived, which was good because Kakashi was getting just the slightest bit bored watching students throw things away.

The smiles the Scarecrow had been having, however, soon started to dissipate. Sasuke and Naruto were unusually quiet, letting that gnawing concern in Kakashi start to take hold again and begin to grow. Sasuke, for starters, had a slight limp. When asked about it, Naruto laughed in an embarrassed manner.

"That was me, Kakashi-sensei. We were playing soccer in gym and I kinda, tripped over him."

Noting Sasuke's look of almost relief, he queried, "You were playing soccer? With a cast on your wrist?"

"It doesn't affect my legs," was Sasuke's only answer.

Not liking this and checking to see that the period had only begun, Kakashi hurried inside and called the locker room. "Did you let Sasuke play soccer with that cast on his wrist?"

The gym teacher sounded abashed. "I let him play with some of the poor players. They can't even run, let alone kick. He wasn't taking sitting down well."

"And the limp?"

"Naruto, the brat, was chasing a ball and wasn't watching what he was doing. Made a spectacular crash."

"But only Sasuke got out with an injury?"

"No, Naruto ended up getting ice for his elbow." So their story checked out. (Kakashi made a note to talk to Sandaime about a gym teacher letting a kid in a cast play...). Something was_still_ gnawing at him, and Kakashi just _knew_ it was something important.

We wandered back outside and around the corner to Asuma's lockers, a heavy weight on his shoulders. What he saw didn't please him in the slightest. Ino had latched onto Sasuke's arm, squeezing the casted appendage into her ample bosom.

"Sasuke-kuuun! I'm so much better than billboard-brow, why don't we go to Kakashi-sensei and ask him to trade me and her. Then_we_ could work together so much better!"

Sasuke and Naruto were both throwing icy glares at her. Growling, Sasuke ripped his arm away from her, throwing her off balance enough to tumble forward. "Shut up," he hissed.

"Ino," the blond growled, getting between her and his teammate, "stay the hell away from us. You couldn't ever understand how we help each other."

"Sasuke-kun, are you going to let this foster-reject talk to me like that?" Ino threw out Naruto's reputation of constantly switching families out. Her mouth really was too fast for her brain.

"You don't know _anything_," Sasuke hissed, sounding oddly like Orochimaru. "About him or me. Leave us_alone_."

While Kakashi applauded the fact that both teammates were backing each other up, he could _feel_ something important under all those words. Something he couldn't grasp, and it made that gnawing feeling all the stronger and frustrating.

"Ino," the Scarecrow materialized behind his prize team. "To Ebisu. Now."

"You always take their side!"

"Now."

Huffing, she gathered her things and left. Once she was gone, Kakashi gave a meaningful glance at the two, before going around to inspect lockers. Once that was done, he brought them all back to his room, leaving only Shinosuke to finish up with his locker, thanking the janitor on his way. Once there, he sat by his two Team 7 members and broadcasted, much as he had with Sakura, approachability. Naruto glanced over, like Sakura had, but did not come.

Kakashi couldn't help but frown as the bell rang for students to head off to their E period specials.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The ultimate in plate spinning chapters - every kid was touched upon, did you see that? Between twelve kids and five teachers, it's a lot to keep track of. I don't know how we could have done this without outlining this fic beforehand. Next chapter's a bigg'un, so stay tuned! Wonder if anyone's figured out what's going on yet... Also, the next chapter takes place after Thanksgiving. Therefore the next update will be the Saturday AFTER Thanksgiving. We got ahead in the story some how, and we'd like to try and keep this relatively accurate with this school year, even if the story isn't set up for a specific year.

VixKill: We're glad you're enjoying. As far as our often update, that's because we're writing up the final weeks in June as we speak. We're waaaay ahead with this story. It makes updating easier when you have a buffer. And our buffer is quite large. Your parents only worry about grading and politics? They're lucky and probably work in middle/upper class school systems. As we've said before, this story is NOT an exageration for poorer districts. Everything in it, unless stated otherwise, has happened to either one of us or a colleague of ours at some point or another. All we did was grab some of the Naruto cast and fit them in where necessary.

TigerZhan: Haven't heard from you for a while. Is all going well?


	13. Week 12

**November: Week Twelve**

* * *

Thanksgiving was, as usual, an interesting holiday for Kakashi. He spent the morning at the memorial, as he always did on holidays and days off, before getting dragged with Gai to his large and extended family's shindig three towns over. The Scarecrow never understood why the Green Beast had taken to pulling him out of his alone time at the memorial to his family's get-together, but it was one of the things that radiated "likable" and earned Gai a tiny place in Kakashi's heart as "friend." Over the years, he'd gotten to know quite a bit about Gai's large family, and understood that Gai was very tame, comparatively. 

He got back home Sunday and spent the afternoon at the memorial, as was usual, before gearing up for school. The gnawing feeling that had settled into his brain on Wednesday had sunk over the holiday weekend to his stomach and was creating the kinds of knots and flip-flops he hadn't experienced since his time in the service. Something was inherently _wrong_ when he drove in that morning, and it pressed firmly in his mind all day. Sakura was late for homeroom, something she never did, and when Kakashi went looking for her, since he had seen her pink head in the halls that morning, he found her in a power huddle with Naruto in Asuma's room. Bells of all sorts were going off in his head, but damn it, he. Could. Not. Place. What was wrong. Sasuke was absent, and that just made all Kakashi's uneasiness heighten.

He was unusually snappish his first two periods, but the students and paraprofessionals didn't notice the deviation in behavior. After all, Kakashi was a very controlled individual. Even if his control were slipping, it would have to take a major upset to cause him to actually be _noticed_ as behaving differently. He couldn't concentrate on anything during his prep, and during SSR, Sakura was once more giving him significant looks. All he could do was appear approachable while the nagging feeling that something was wrong continued to assert itself front and center in his consciousness.

When the bell rang, Kakashi locked the door behind him and hoped that his lunch with the sixth grade teachers would put his mind at ease. Or at least distract him as he started to learn tidbits about next year's crop. Then he could discuss his concerns with his team. However, just before he entered the teacher's lounge, he felt a tug at his sleeve.

Tuning, he saw Sakura and Naruto, glancing back and forth between him and each other.

Plastering on a smile of welcoming was difficult, but he did so quickly. "Yes?" he asked.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto trailed off, his face tight with worry. The Scarecrow's heart started racing, against his control.

"When someone you care about and respect makes you promise something, should you break that promise?" Sakura asked, more than worry lining her face, fright was there as well.

"Well," Kakashi started, before he felt the proverbial bucket of ice water dump over him. _Oh. My. God._ Everything fell together all at once and he knew. He _knew_. Blinking he stared at Naruto and Sakura, realizing they were expecting an answer. He continued to stare at them, his mind doing at least four things at once.

Finally, he said, "I think it depends on the kind of promise. If it's a promise that puts that cared and respected person in harm's way, then I think you should break the promise. But in this case, you don't have to worry," he continued, "because I know." The two students gaped at him, shocked at the very idea. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting to go to." He dashed back down the halls. Iruka always had lunch in his room, since there was always a student of his coming in for extra help on something. On the way, without realizing it, he raised his _hitae-ate_.

The Scarecrow burst into Iruka's room, no ceremony, no excuses. He made straight for the special education teacher's desk, completely ignoring his startled look. "I need the team notebook. Now."

"Uh, sure, but what...?" Iruka reached under a pile of papers and pulled out the folder, Kakashi grabbed it out of his hands, not even feigning politeness as he opened it and ripped out a an extra sheet of paper and procuring the pen Iruka had been using. "Hey, hey! What's this about?"

But Kakashi didn't reply. His mind, renowned in his old life by everybody, was working full steam as he went through Iruka's detailed notes and copied what he needed. It was so _obvious_ as he noted all the incidents, all the dates. Why hadn't they _seen_ it before? He was certain he was slipping.

"I'm going out," Kakashi said, folding the scrawled paper and stuffing it into his breast pocket. "You're in charge of F and G."

"I'm what? Kakashi, what--?"

But Kakashi was already gone, marching down the hall and out the door to his car. He wished dimly in the back of his mind that he had parked closer to the building, but there was no time to deal with that now. Iruka would no doubt pass on his sudden leave of absence to the office, and the paperwork would no doubt be waiting for him, as well as a stern lecture from Ebisu. But that was worth shit compared to what he had just figured out.

He took a full three seconds in the car to breathe and think. Konoha Middle was just off-center to the middle of town. Up the street and you found the restaurants that Asuma and the other teachers frequented, down the street you'd see two supermarkets competing for each other, and just beyond them was Main Street, where all the local businesses were. Just beyond that was the local hospital, where several students unfortunately paid visits. The drive took maybe twenty minutes, Kakashi using a few side roads and parking lots to cut corners, to say nothing of the number of cars he cut off.

Parking, he beelined to the first nurse station he found. "Excuse me," Kakashi said, a folder in hand. "I just learned that a student of mine, Uchiha Sasuke, was checked in over the weekend. I wanted to drop by and give him the work he missed today and find out how long he'll be out. His brother, Itachi, was a little vague on the phone."

"Oh, yes, of course." The nurse rattled off the room number, and Kakashi quickly made his way through the halls, finding the location. Deep breathe, sense of approachability, and turn the knob.

Sasuke was dozing in the hospital bed, his wiry body looking very small in the sterile room. The English teacher hated hospitals; too many people he cared about having been lost in them. It never brought up good memories, and to see his student in one disturbed him on a level that rarely touched him anymore. He closed the door silently behind him and softly padded to the bed, taking a chair and sitting in it, assessing Sasuke.

His arm had been re-broken, the cast replaced and slightly larger than before. There was a patch taped to his cheek, and signs that his ribs were wrapped. It had been bad, worse than the other times. It had been steadily getting worse, up to now the wounds never visible, always hidden; the first sign that it was getting worse was the broken wrist.

Why hadn't he _seen_?

Sasuke opened his eyes, his face tightening when he saw his teacher sitting by him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"You know, I was going to ask you the same question," Kakashi drawled, tiptoeing around his wording. "We'll start the first full week of school, when you had a bruise on your arm..." One by one, he listed off every injury that had ever been noted in Team Time, mentally thanking Iruka profusely for the detailed notes he always took. Sasuke's face became darker and darker, his mind reliving the memories attached to each injury. His unbroken fist gripped the hospital sheet, his knuckles whitening with the force gathering in his hand. "And then there's today, when you were absent because they wouldn't let you out of the hospital," Kakashi concluded. He folded the paper again and put it back in his pocket. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" he asked, keeping his voice light, airy.

Sasuke looked away, hiding his shame. "I... didn't want anyone to know."

"Of course not," Kakashi answered, still picking his words with tweezers. "Let me see if I can guess. The first time came as a complete surprise. You weren't even sure that it happened. You wrote it off, saying he was stressed out about work, or that he didn't realize what he'd done. Then it happened again, maybe again. You think it must be you, that you're triggering something that precipitates the behavior, and that if you only figured out what it was, you could stop it. Until you do, though, it's far better to keep it to yourself. After all, how stupid does it look that you can't stop this on your own?" Kakashi paused, letting the words sink in. "You haven't figured out what the behavior is, have you?"

"... No." Sasuke was talking. It was better than the stonewalling that he had been receiving for two weeks. He couldn't hide anymore, not from Kakashi.

"That's because it isn't you. It's him. You can't fix it because you don't have control over it."

"But Orochimaru-sensei said I can take control over it." The response was nearly a whisper.

Only years of life-or-death struggle in the military kept Kakashi from reacting to that statement. The Snake _knew_?! And he didn't _do_ anything?? There would be hell to pay. A furious Kakashi was a dangerous Kakashi, and a back compartment of his mind was already working out what he was going to do after he ran a dull knife into the (soon to be former) guidance counselor's abdomen.

"Then let me ask you this," Kakashi countered, focusing in on Sasuke, his two eyed gaze becoming intense, "is it possible to completely control another person's behavior? A person who has his own mind and his own thoughts and his own presence? Do you think you could control me? Actually, I'm a bad example. Do you think you can control Naruto?"

There was an odd, tight, half laugh that left Sasuke's lungs, more of a quick exhalation than a laugh, an admission of irony, perhaps. "I've tried. I can't."

"Then what makes you think you can stop him?"

Sasuke's head dipped down, but even that could not hide the tears as the boy admitted defeat; it was, perhaps, the hardest thing he had ever done. Kakashi let him have his moment, did not interfere as the pain poured out of Sasuke, tear by tear. He remembered the times he had cried like that, the landmarks of his life always marked by those kinds of tears: tears of loss. Kakashi had lost those he loved, and Sasuke, too, had lost those he loved - his parents. Further salt was poured into those wounds by the horrible betrayal of Itachi.

The story fell out of the boy's mouth, haltingly, his tears and his own guilt inhibiting the recitation. The accident with his parents, the immediate death of his father and the painful days it took his mother to die. Finding their blood-soaked bodies; Itachi's cool absence of emotion; the grey memories of the funeral. Then the first strike, when they came home and Sasuke's eyes had again welled up with tears. He thought it was his brother's way to dealing with the guilt, and that was how it started. He talked about his dread of coming home after school, his silent relief at all the time he spent at Sakura's house, and later Naruto's; he envied their families, even Naruto's, because he could feel the love in those houses, and he missed it desperately. He knew it was irrational, but he was jealous of those houses, and yet he could not pull away from them, because he kept trying to learn what was in them that wasn't in his, if there was some way he could mimic the atmosphere and attain what he'd lost.

Kakashi listened to it all, silently if not stoically. There was a resonance in Sasuke's story to his own life. He remembered when he'd lost the love in his own home, the death of his father, all those early years that he tried so hard to forget.

"You know," Kakashi said finally, when Sasuke had finally quieted, "You're not the only one who's been through this. My father--"

Kakashi stopped as he felt a very ugly presence. "Sasuke," he said instead. "I said once that you're intelligent enough to make your own decisions. Now you have to make one: do you want to see your brother?"

The dark head snapped up, unhidden fear filling his face. His response was immediate: "No."

That was all he needed. "Then call for a nurse." Kakashi stood up and walked purposefully towards the door, opening it and stepping outside, closing the door behind him. Itachi was tall, and had the same color eyes as the Scarecrow's newer one.

"Who are you?" His voice was quiet, oddly monotonous, dull, almost bored.

"Hatake Kakashi-sensei. You are Uchiha Itachi."

"You're from the school," Itachi intoned. "I didn't tell them why Sasuke was absent."

"Of course not. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't be figured out." Kakashi radiated intimidation on full volume, a feat that often petrified students and faculty alike; even the old man, Sandaime, disliked it when he did that. Itachi, however, didn't even flinch, in fact he in turn radiated his own intimidation, and Kakashi realized just how deep he was. He hadn't seen this since just after the military.

"I don't want you here."

"Well, what you want doesn't really matter anymore," Kakashi drawled, continuing to stall. Where was that damn nurse? He needed a witness. "Sasuke doesn't want to see you."

"I don't believe you." Still deadpan.

"You don't think it's natural for the victim of child abuse to want to avoid the perpetrator?"

No reaction. Not even a blink. Kakashi was beginning to feel disturbed, even nervous. He kept digging.

"Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? It's child abuse. You've hit him repeatedly, since the death of your parents. He's gotten tired of it, and wants nothing to do with you. You may want to consider leaving, because DCF is on the way, and they're less than happy with you. I wonder which penalty they'll give you? Jail time? Or will they lock you in a psyche ward to figure out what's wrong with your head? Imagine spending all that time with other psychos screaming and giggling at things you can't see. It all depends on your lawyer, of course. If you get jail time, that might actually be better, because then you'll have lots of people just like you; people who like to take advantage of others. Who knows? You might be one of their victims. You know, I heard a story once where a man on suicide watch figured out how to kill himself by jumping from the top of the john and banging his head against--"

At last, a reaction: Itachi grabbed Kakashi's throat. The former military man fought his instincts and let the other man do so. The timing could not have been more perfect, the nurse finally rounded the corner just as Itachi did so, and cried out in alarm. "Sir! Please unhand that man right now! I'll have to ask you to leave the premises immediately!"

Itachi threw a very dark glare at first the nurse and then at Kakashi. The silver haired teacher did nothing, just stared back as blankly and emotionlessly as Itachi had done. The brother's eyes were spinning darkly, a purse of his lips that could almost pass for a frown. A thick, heavy, moment passed between them.

"Until next time," Itachi murmured, before turning and leaving.

Kakashi waited, stood perfectly still until he was certain that the monster was gone, could feel no trace of his presence, before he let out a deep breathe. He suddenly felt the intense, desperate need for a shower.

He walked back into the room without comment and sat back down with Sasuke, who had a tense look on his face. "He's gone." Sasuke's face slackened with relief.

Kakashi pulled out his cell phone and typed in a number he sadly knew too well. "There's something about teachers I'm not sure you know about. We're what's called 'mandated reporters'. I now know about it, and I have to report it. But I'm not the only one who can make the call." He turned, looking at Sasuke's dark hair and offering him the phone. "Do you want to make the call?"

Sasuke's head was still down; his free fist began balling the blanket again. His shoulders were shaking as the decision weighed down on him. Finally,

"... I can't do it."

He couldn't let go yet. Not completely. "That's fine, Sasuke. Very, very few people could." He pressed the send key.

The call lasted a little under an hour. He'd made over a dozen of these calls since he started teaching, and it never, _ever_, got any easier. He wasn't in his office or his home, and he didn't have the paperwork memorized, but as always the person on the other end was very helpful and took him through the process. He described everything he knew, Sasuke occasionally adding information in the background. By the time he finished, the Department of Children and Family were said to be on their way.

"Okay," he said, hanging up. "That's step one. I'm going to stay here with you until we know that you have somewhere to go. You were the one who started this, but I'm going to be with you through this until the end. Next, I have to call the principal." Sasuke snapped to attention, clearly reluctant to talk about this story. How like Naruto. "He's probably curious where I disappeared to in the middle of the school day." The boy looked relieved.

Dialing the school, it wasn't long before Shizune answered the phone. "Put me through to the old man's office," he said.

"But Kakashi-sensei, he's right in the middle of a meeting with--"

"Get him on the phone, Shizune. Tell him I'm in the hospital."

"The hospital?! Are you okay?"

"Get him on the phone, it's important."

"Yes, right away!"

Kakashi slouched further in his chair, wishing it were more comfortable. Sasuke looked at him dubiously, not liking the mention of hospitals. The English teacher shrugged, "I need an excuse."

"Kakashi, what's this all about."

"Sorry," he replied in his singsong voice. "I had to rush myself to the hospital. Did Iruka-sensei tell you how I looked when I left? It was a mess."

"I did speak with Iruka," Sandaime said on his end of the phone. "Are you with the boy right now?"

Iruka had figured it out and passed it on. Good. Kakashi hadn't been sure that he would. "Yeah," he replied, giving a slight pause before adding, "It's the eye. It really hurts."

"He doesn't know you're telling me?"

"Maa, I guess you could say that. I kind of wanted to keep it quiet, the school doesn't need to know that I'm not perfect."

"I see. Have you made the appropriate calls?"

"Yes. The doctor is on his way right now. I'm sitting in the waiting room right now, the lap of luxury. I'll probably be here for a while." Kakashi threw a glance to Sasuke, who was trying to get comfortable in his bed. One ear was open, but it was clear he didn't believe that Kakashi was talking about him. Ha, still got it. "At least until I know that I can drive. It was a little touch and go for a while."

"'Touch and go?' Why?" Sandaime asked on the other end of the phone.

"Mm, about the best way to put it was that I ran into Obito." Kakashi closed his eyes and waited. Would the old man figure it out? Kakashi's past was not exactly a well-known story, and only one person knew the entirety of it. Not even Gai knew everything, and using Obito as a signpost was obscure to say the least. Sandaime knew more than most, and was one of the few people in the building who could interpret Kakashi's double talk with (relative) ease.

"That would be very taxing. Alright, do what's necessary." Good, he understood.

"I'm already doing that."

"Any messages?"

"Yeah, pass on what's happened to the team, would you? Just the basics, I can explain the rest later."

"Alright. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"To be determined."

"Alright. Good luck."

"You, too." Kakashi hung up. "And we're set," he said happily, turning to the fidgety Sasuke. "It's just in time, too, we have some visitors."

The boy tensed, not knowing what Kakashi meant, until the door opened and a pink and yellow pair of heads appeared.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-teme! Ah! Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?!"

Tugging his headband back down, he winked into a smile. "Oh, checking up on my favorite team to torture," he said cordially. "I need to scold you two, you've known about this," he jutted a thumb to the startled Sasuke, "for over two weeks, now, right? You didn't come to me; that's bad form. I had to go and take care of it all by myself."

The two stared at him, flabbergasted, because they _had_ finally come to him. Kakashi counted the seconds for them to figure out that he was covering for them. Eight, nine, and ten...

"It's about time you did some of your own work!!" Naruto screeched. "Instead of pawning it off to us all the time you lazy bastard sensei!"

Ah, music to his ears. "You're lucky we're not in school anymore, otherwise I'd give you a detention for language." Naruto flinched visibly, and it triggered another melodious piece of music: Sasuke gave a small laugh. Sakura and Naruto rushed to Sasuke, and the three immediately started talking, seemingly oblivious to the presence of Kakashi, save for the fact that they were talking about Sasuke and Itachi and what had happened with open relief. Kakashi soon gleaned just how they had learned bout the young Uchiha's predicament, when they had, looking out the window as their teammate left for home with his older brother, witnessed Itachi breaking Sasuke's wrist. That was what had brought about the silence, Sasuke had extracted promises from both of them not to tell a soul. They both chided Sasuke when they heard how Kakashi had figured it out, and here the English teacher made a small correction.

"I'm not omnipotent, Sakura, just omniscient."

The conversation degenerated from there as they tried to figure out how all-powerful Kakashi actually was, trying several times to badger him with questions that took every ounce of self control to Not Grin at. He instead answered them half heartedly, having pulled out his beloved book, and overall giving them the impression that he just might be omnipotent.

When DCF and the police came, they looked at the two children and asked Kakashi to take them outside. Naruto steadfastly refused.

"We're both promised to stand by Sasuke-teme, and nothing you guys say is going to change that! I never go back on my word!"

Kakashi looked up. "Let them stay," he said, quietly to the Child Services representative. "He needs this as much as they do."

The interview, if it could be called that, was grueling for Sasuke. Even with his obvious injuries, the DCF wanted to be a thorough as possible to get the maximum effect on Itachi. Kakashi explained his confrontation with the red-eyed brother in the hall, and mentioned the nurse witness. Then there was securing a home; Sasuke had no other relatives, and that put him in the system. Naruto happily offered his own foster father, Yondaime, and Sakura was more than happy to open her house to him until his injuries were healed - neither of them thinking about what their parents would say.

"I don't care where they put you!" Naruto had exclaimed, "That's just where you're gonna sleep at night, from now on your home is with us!" Kakashi quickly hid his grin behind his hand and counted a full thirty seconds before the pole axed Sasuke could finally process the statement enough to smile.

It was finally settled that Sasuke would stay with one of the few fosters that had medical training, a man named Kabuto, who was called and finally arrived close to seven in the evening; right about when the Scarecrow's stomach complained about the skipped lunch and dinner. It was only then that Kakashi felt safe in stretching his back and getting up.

"Sensei, are you leaving?" Sasuke asked, his voice again very small. Kakashi turned, the boy surrounded by adults and officials and two very close friends.

"Only if you want me to."

"Sensei... thanks."

Kakashi smiled. "It was your decision, Sasuke. Thank yourself."

* * *

The next day everyone sat down in the back of Asuma's room, and Kakashi reiterated the gruesome details, from the covert question Sakura and Naruto had asked and how it all had pieced together in his mind, the conversation he'd had to weasel the truth out of Sasuke, the painful admission and how it had all began, the confrontation with Itachi, the arrival of Naruto and Sakura, up to the arrival of the DCF. 

"It was pretty straightforward after that," he summed up. He felt tired, the perpetual slouch in his chair a little deeper. He stared at the ceiling, his head just touching the back of the chair.

The silence was heavy, the other teachers lost in their own thoughts.

"Life can be such shit," Asuma finally said.

"Youth is far too fragile to be assaulted by such atrocities."

"First Naruto, and now this..." Kurenai put her head on her free hand, shaking it slightly. "How can these kids endure it?"

Iruka gave a deep sigh. "Well, at least some good came out of it," he said. "Sasuke's out of it now, the DCF is involved, and he's safe. Not only that, but Team Seven has been solidified; I'm willing to lay money down that they'll be together for life. Bonds like that are strong, and now Sasuke won't deal with it alone. Neither will Naruto, for that matter; and between them Sakura will act as an anchor. On top of it all, now they have Kakashi to turn to."

"... Mm," Kakashi agreed, closing his eyes.

After school he kicked his normal crowd out to other rooms and made a beeline for the principal's office. He waited with Shizune, chatting aimlessly until the old man stepped out of his office. Orochimaru trailed close behind, saying nothing as he wandered off back to his own office.

"Kakashi, if you please." The English teacher followed, taking quiet breathes to prevent himself from performing murder. His hatred for the guidance counselor had never been greater.

The principal's office was of medium size, one corner cordoned off for his desk and computer, as well as a few chairs. The room turned in an L, however, and held a small conference table and an assorted menagerie of chairs for larger meetings. Sandaime almost always preferred using his desk. He sat stiffly in his chair, gesturing for Kakashi to do the same.

"Tell me everything."

Kakashi gave it verbatim, word for word. Sandaime sat, eyes closed, absorbing. Only when Kakashi finished, almost two hours later, did the old man open his eyes.

"What you say about Orochimaru is deeply troubling."

"Of course it is. He knew that child abuse was taking place and he deliberately did not call DCF, which he of all people knows that he has to do as a mandated reporter. Fire him."

"Kakashi, you should know that I'm not the one who does that. The Board of Education does."

"So? That's a formality at this point. Get him packing and worry about the Board later."

"You do not seem to understand, Kakashi. You do not attend the meetings, Orochimaru does, and he has garnered much support in it. He is popular and favored and, in short, wields much power - sometimes even more than me when push comes to shove. He has forestalled and outright stopped many policies I have wanted to put in place. Even this turn of events may not be enough."

It was a gut punch. "You mean to say that he may still be working?"

Sandaime gave Kakashi a long look. "... Yes."

"Fuck."

"Kakashi, come with me to the emergency meeting. Tell them what you have told me, help me show them what a detriment Orochimaru is to this school." The old man leaned back, suddenly looking very tired. "Jiraiya and Tsunade will be there, as will as I, and we shall all explain our lists of disputes and why he should be discharged. You are not alone in your desire to see him leave. I can only hope that will be enough."

Kakashi nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and stood to leave. Sandaime was too tired to see him off.

* * *

That night Kakashi attended the emergency Board of Ed meeting. Gai was also there; he loved these kinds of meetings, and he obviously had particular interest in this one. Sandaime was there, of course, as principal, and Tsunade and Jiraiya made appearances, as well as a handful of other teachers. Most of the meeting consisted of parents, town politicians, and tax payers. 

Now, if Kakashi knew anything (and he was reputed to know everything by students) he knew himself. He was eccentric, aloof, quick minded and patient, but the one thing he could not deal with were people in charge who were idiots. Dealing with a room full of screaming children? A walk in the park. Dealing with a pissed off teacher? A breeze. Dealing with an upset parent who doesn't like how he disciplined their children? Could do it in his sleep. Dealing with a conglomerate of people who were more than happy to bury things in subcommittees and red tape and then complain how nothing gets done, people who heard their children's stories about him and judged him as incompetent, people who _did not want to hear_ was he had to say?

Well, there were problems.

Kakashi was a popular teacher amongst the students, but the parents split down the middle with their opinion of him. The smart ones saw was he was doing and loved him. The rest heard about his tardiness and his slouching and his off-color reading and hated his guts. That he was even present caused a minor uproar amongst that corner of the Board. The taxpayers just wanted to do whatever was cheapest, and the politicians! They just wanted to line their own pockets by taking whatever side was the majority.

Tack on to this was the fact that Orochimaru, who did attend Board meetings regularly, was on a first name basis with just about everybody, and for every point that Tsunade or Jiraiya or Gai brought up, he had three possible explanations and a litany of good that he did for the school. He skillfully manipulated the situation, turning it around and saying Kakashi was actually _making it all up_.

"If this is all really true," he said to the Board, "then where is this boy so that he can tell us? We only have Kakashi's say that this alleged incident even happened; and even if he was speaking the truth, _he_ only has the word of a twelve-year-old boy. Can even that be trusted?"

This wasn't to say that Kakashi didn't play every card he had. He had a great command of language, and he utilized it to the fullest, cultivating several specific multi-syllabic words that made the adults think - partly to remind that that, thank you, he was an intelligent, educated man; and partly to give them pause to think. He wanted them to realize exactly what he was saying, that an adult knew a child was being abused and did not intervene.

They were insistent on muddling it with details.

"When did you find all this out at any rate?"

"What kind of proof do you have that the child was even being abused?"

"What does this have to do with how good a guidance counselor Orochimaru-sama is?"

"Why don't we just bring the kid in and ask him?"

"You don't seem to understand," Kakashi replied, annunciating each word, "A child was being abused. He's been beaten, badgered, and belittled. The boy is traumatized. Do you really want to drag him in here and interrogate him over who did or didn't know the hell he was going through? This isn't about the kid, this isn't about me, it's about a man, that man," he pointed his finger at Orochimaru, "knowing that child abuse was occurring and _deliberately_ not saying anything."

A Hyuga stood up. "What I find most interesting," he said, "is that you are continually trying to attack the character of man who had proven himself over and over as a valuable asset to this school. Now, what I want to know is, are you just as valuable? If you're so determined to trim the budget by eliminating a faculty member, then perhaps we should start looking at your credentials and service? You are, after all, erratic at best."

Sandaime had to step in at that point.

The meeting ended, Kakashi turned exhausted eyes to the old man, and the principal could only offer an equally tired look of sympathy.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I hope the Sasuke fans are happy with this one. For any who feel that Sasuke is out of character, we have a few points. First, he only just lost his parents a few months ago. He hasn't had years to become bitter just yet. Second, his parents weren't killed by Itachi, so that resentment doesn't have time to fester. These details alter his character somewhat, which is why he's okay with crying (okay, he's not okay with it, but he's at least willing to...unlike in the anime...) and talking to Kakashi about everything. Such is the nature of an AU.

Again, these are events we've actually gone through. I've had to make DCF calls, and sadly stories like this are all too common. Another teacher we know had to stay with a student until she was certain the girl had somewhere to go - and that was at about nine at night when the service people finally showed, so this is an amalgam of stories.

We were happy to see that it ends all right for Sasuke, at least for now. He finally buys into Team 7, Naruto and Sakura get to shine, etc.

Itachi was difficult to write. In the anime, Kakashi has open fear of Orochimaru after he sealed Sasuke's curse when he realized he was about to go head-to-head with a Sannin. He didn't show this fear with Itachi after the chuunin exams, but his fight hardly fared well; that said he did technically win because he survived the magenkyou (sp?) without going nuts. We hope this encounter worked out well.

More Team 7 goodness in the next chapter, along with some looks at Team 8, so look forward to it!

InoShikaChou: Sorry that you do't like how we're portraying Ino. We've already stated why she is the way she is (either in a pervious author's note, or in an upcoming one) but another concern we had is that she is VERY similar to Sakura and we couldn't really have that. There are so few female characters that have any real depth to them in the show, it makes developing characters for them somewhat difficult. However, Ino does grow over the course of the story, and by the end, she'll be very different. Chouji, oddly enough, has the biggest storyline of the three of them which we've already started dropping hints for. Shikamaru doesn't have a major storyline like Sasuke just got here or Naruto did at the end of September, but he does show up a fair bit. Hope that satisfies you. hope hope


	14. Week 13

**December: Week Thirteen**

* * *

Given the hell that was known as Last Week, Kakashi was looking forward to some relative piece and quiet. It was the first week of December, Christmas advertisements had already been blasting for almost a month, and shoppers were out, paying full price for various toys, cloths, books, gift cards, etc. Sasuke had come back to school, his arm still encased in the larger cast, and walking gingerly from class to class, with either Naruto or Sakura carrying his books (he refused anyone else to help him), and having full support from Kakashi and his team so that nobody pestered him with questions in regards to his new cast. Anyone who tried to talk to Sasuke in the halls was faced with the stone wall of Sakura and Naruto. It was a much-needed grin that Kakashi couldn't hide, no matter how he tried. That and, now that December had started, the orders for the _hitae-ate_ were in, and students all around the building were proudly wearing the Yuuhi creation on heads, around necks, arms, waists, whatever worked. 

Monday and Tuesday proved to be life as normal. In fact, none of them had needed to write up a student yet and Kurenai had quietly suggested that they might be able to get through the week without having anyone end up in ISS. Or at least, it was a prayer that they all hoped for. There was of course, the usual trouble. Naruto served an ISS on Monday for his usual misdemeanors (ie: talking back to Ebisu) that occurred on Friday. It was two days of bliss that Kakashi needed after the turmoil of last week and Orochimaru almost deliberately showing his face in front of the Scarecrow and silently gloating.

Of course, such peace couldn't last.

Wednesday, the English teacher enjoyed lunch with the sixth grade teachers, as was his habit. He lingered as they left, enjoying the last of his coffee and greeting the next wave of teachers as they arrived. Still, he had waited long enough; it was time to irk Iruka with his tardiness.

"Ah, Kakashi, my rival."

"Hello, Gai. What brings you down here? I would have thought you'd be waiting for me with everyone else." He grinned broadly. "Is Iruka finally fed up and sending you to fetch me?"

The social studies teacher grinned right back. "While our youthful comrade is, indeed, much chagrined with your perpetual lack of punctuality, he is not my reason for finding our esteemed English teacher."

"Oh?"

"It seems that there were not enough substitutes this day, as many of our fellow guardians of youth are absent. Shizune has been frantic, trying to ensure that every class has coverage, resulting in some teachers having as many as three or four substitute educators of youth in for one person over the course of the day."

Well, December usually started the flue and cold season. Days like this were bound to happen. "So let me guess," Kakashi made some deductive leaps. "You came to find me because you now have to cover something else and won't be in for team time."

"You are indeed perceptive, and one day I will exceed you in that field. It makes my passionate fire of rivaldom beat all the more!"

Kakashi stood and walked with his teammate. "So, what duty do you have?"

"I must watch our youthful students enjoy their midday meal."

"I don't envy you." Kakashi had always hated it when he got stuck watching kids shovel food down their mouths as quickly as possible just so they could continue gossiping. If the Scarecrow needed the grapevine, he had several after school clubs that he ran to get it, either from Student Council, the Book Club, the Homework Club, or the students who liked to hang out in his room after school. He followed Gai into the cafeteria across the hall. "Still, I'll keep you company for a few minutes to give you the basics of what we'll be discussing."

Together, the seventh grade teachers strode into the cafeteria. The cafeteria was a wedge shape, with the narrow end holding the lunch line, deli line, garbage cans, and other usual tidbits that made a cafeteria a cafeteria. The lunch ladies' area was further sectioned off by a half-wall where the garbage cans were lined up on one side, with utensils and napkins on the other. In the rest of the wedge, the students ate. The other team had assigned seats in the cafeteria, requiring their students to sit with their homerooms. Kakashi's team hadn't had to do that, because their team's behavior during lunch, while hardly stellar, didn't warrant assigned seats. The two teams were separated only by a gap between lunch tables that was larger than the rest, but it was enough.

He and Gai wandered over to the half-wall, where they had a good view of their students, still discussing various meetings and such coming up. The union representative was getting to be a bigger hassle, Gai explained, as he had just mandated teachers to come to the union meetings. To make matters worse, it seemed Orochimaru was backing him. Just what Kakashi _didn't_ want to hear.

It happened out of the corner of his eye. A carton of milk was spiraling in the air, open, its contents spilling onto almost a dozen students. In retaliation, a container of applesauce was thrown. The English teacher lost track of what was thrown after that as some students ducked to avoid the flying food, others started tearing up their own lunches, launching the edible projectiles.

"Get the teachers from the teachers lounge," he told Gai. Ebisu and Sandaime, who always prowled around the cafeteria during lunchtime, started shouting directives that the students weren't listening to. Food fights were only beat out by atomic bombs when it came to efficiency in destruction. Such fights never lasted more than a minute, up to three, depending how long it took to basically create a wall of teachers for students to think twice before throwing the next sandwich or drink. But the damage done in those short minutes was massive. The janitors would have enormous amounts of liquid and edible mess to clean up before the next lunch wave came in, students and teachers would be stuck wearing sticky, stained clothes that would be uncomfortable to sit in for the rest of the day, long hair could end up hopelessly tangled and mussed up, leaving the ladies (and some of the guys) complaining for the rest of the day.

As Kakashi and the other teachers started shouting orders, the Scarecrow saw, from across the room, a milk carton exploded into something worse. His Team 7 had been sitting together at the end of a table, near the windows that overlooked the courtyard. The milk carton spilled all over Naruto, sending him falling backwards into Kiba. The Scarecrow started to head over there because he knew this couldn't end well. Kiba and Naruto were both having bad days in Resource, and Kakashi knew that Iruka had given Kiba a detention over something he claimed was Naruto's fault. While the two weren't bad students, Kakashi knew that even in his class, the two could play off one another swimmingly, with loud angry bickering until he intervened.

Unsurprisingly, Kiba took his leftover anger out on Naruto for falling into him, and Naruto shouted right back. Kiba said something Kakashi couldn't hear over the shouts and screams of the food fight, but it must have been bad, since Naruto threw the first punch. There was suddenly a wall of students between the English teacher and his Team 7. Given his advantage of height, Kakashi watched the fists fly between the two of them before Sasuke and Sakura intervened.

Sasuke, who had been sitting in front of Naruto, stood and grabbed Kiba from behind, and the hooded boy's struggles were obviously irritating Sasuke's taped ribs, but the dark haired boy continued to hold Kiba back. Sakura, who had been next to her blond teammate, got between Kiba and him, shoving Naruto back. "Naruto!" she shouted. "You idiot! Don't get in ISS again! You can't keep getting in trouble like this!" Trust Sakura to insult Naruto and give sage advice all in one breathe. But Kakashi didn't have time to smile yet again at his prized team's increasing closeness. He to get from _here_ to _there_ before matters got worse.

After Sakura's harsh words, Naruto came up short and appeared to calm, a bonus in his favor that Kakashi would push, until Kiba wriggled out of Sasuke's weakened grasp, reached out, grabbed Sakura's long pink locks, and yanked, wanting her out of the way.

Sakura cried out in pain, tipping backward and overbalanced, before she fell hard onto her back. Naruto's calm disappeared in an instant and Kakashi could see Sasuke's face darken before he kicked Kiba's legs out from under him. The blond member of Team 7 launched himself forward, fists flying fast. With Sasuke still struggling to hold Kiba, Naruto had an unhindered shot until Shino appeared behind Naruto to hold _him_ back.

Kakashi finally waded through the students and with the perfect pitch of his voice, commanded, "_Stop_!" His verbal whiplash, plus the wall of teachers behind him thanks to Gai, finally put a halt to all activity in the large cafeteria. Both Kiba and Naruto were bleeding on the floor, Kiba more so. Sasuke finally let go, sinking to the floor, breathing hard, his good arm clutching his ribs. Sakura was by his side, one hand holding her head, the other gently touching Sasuke's back, a quiet inquiry.

The entire event took a total of two minutes.

Tsunade came in as the teachers were herding students back to their tables from the circle that had appeared around the fistfight, and made a straight line going to Team 7 and Kiba. All three were taken to her office, with Shino supporting Kiba, Sakura helping Sasuke, and Hinata appearing to take Naruto's arm.

Sandaime and Ebisu leveled icy glares at the gathered student body. There was very little time in the lunch period left, some students at their seats hurrying to finish what was left of their lunches. "All students," Sandaime stated, "will report to their F period classes. You will not go back to your specials. You will wait there until you are called down to the Lecture Hall."

Kakashi slipped out of the cafeteria at that point, and stepped double time to the office, where he took the phone out of Shizune's hand.

"Kakashi!"

"Asuma?" he ignored her.

"Kakashi, we were wondering where you'd gotten to. This is late even for you."

"We won't be having Team Time. The entire seventh grade is coming straight up to F period. There was a food fight and a fistfight. Gai and I got caught in the middle breaking it up. We'll be called down class by class to the Lecture Hall for something. Sandaime's hardly pleased."

"Shit. I'll explain to the others. Any students we should be looking for as missing?"

"No, they're all my in F."

"Right."

Rushing down the hall, Kakashi opened his door and then went across the hall to Gai's room, unlocking that as well. Iruka poked his head out, question on his lips, but went into Kakashi's room as the thunderous sound of footsteps approached. The Scarecrow waited in Gai's room until he appeared, then meandered across the hall back into his room to start expressing his displeasure. He noted, however, that Iruka already had the class sitting upright and silent. Noting Iruka's blatant look of wanting to ask questions. Kakashi walked over and quietly gave the lowdown on what happened and why Teams 7 and 8 were missing.

It wasn't long before his phone rang, and Kakashi picked up to hear Ebisu. Evidently, his team would meet first down at the Lecture Hall, so he nodded to Iruka and took their class down to the most uncomfortable room in the building. The Lecture Hall was a sloped room designed to hold more than the average class. The base of the room had a good-sized amount of floor for teachers to stand, with a computer shoved into the corner by the blackboard. The rows of seats were old, wooden, and not very flexible. The seats were decades old, and many of the students swore that the people who the seats were designed for were midgets, because nobody could sit down in them and be comfortable. Each seat had a mini square of a desk that could be lifted and slid down between the seats. This was where some of the faculty meetings were held before the new library was added, so Kakashi _knew_ how uncomfortable the chairs were. And right now he was happy to let the students squirm in the chairs for hours if he wanted.

Once his class was all settled, he and the teachers lining the walls along the slope, Sandaime looked coldly up to the student body.

"I am disappointed. Very disappointed." And thus the lecture on responsibility and how your actions reflected your future began. Sandaime was known for getting longwinded if he wasn't happy, and making you listen to every word. He used that skill and then some as he verbally spanked the students in front of him. He went on for almost ten minutes before he started a basic question and answer session designed to sniff out who had started the food-fight. After a few minutes of prodding and working the students to try and get a straight answer, Kakashi had had enough. He left his comfy spot on the wall and stood by Sandaime and Ebsiu. Lifting his hitae-ate, he glared at the student body, the kids already knowing that if his headband was raised, he was dead serious.

Kakashi raised his fingers, "I have only two things to say. First, the person or persons who started this food fight have exhibited the height of irresponsibility. Not just because of what Sandaime-sama has said. As your teachers, we are given a list of students who have various allergies, such as bees, seafood, wheat, peanut oil, etc. Now, food allergies don't always require you to ingest food to get sick. Sometimes the smell can induce nausea, or even touching residuals of the food can initiate an allergic reaction." His eyes narrowed. "Trust me, watching somebody die _isn't_ fun." The students knew, at the very least, that he'd been in the military. This would, of course send speculation on what he'd done spiraling with rumors; he'd be inundated with questions, but that was secondary right now.

"Second, we're not stupid. We can tell you're covering for friends. I'd like to know where the moral decision to be honest begins. Food fight? No problem. Stole some candy? Why turn your best friend in. Oh, they stole some dollar bills now. It wasn't much. A hundred dollars taken? While uncomfortable, you didn't actually do it. A thousand dollars? Wasn't me. In the middle of a theft, a person was struck down? Well, the guy'll live, no major injuries. Somebody died. But they're my friend. Where's the line drawn? When does it become all right to cover for a friend and when is it not okay? Because right now, you're indicating that you'd cover for your friend no matter what they did."

Silence.

Kakashi offered a wry grin. "And let's not forget that this food fight led to the injuring of three students. We'll be lucky if the parents don't bring a civil suit for several million dollars against us, all thanks to a few children who thought a food fight would be fun."

"Two very valid points, Kakashi-sensei," Sadaime agreed, picking up where Kakashi left off. As Sandaime continued talking about a writing assignment that he was going to give them, the Scarecrow walked over to Iruka.

"Make sure they know it's a graded assignment," he murmured. "I'm going to check on our missing teams."

The special education teacher nodded and Kakashi slipped out.

* * *

There was no "nurse's office" as most schools knew it. Konoha Middle sported an entire health center, with Tsunade leading the reigns as head nurse. Given how poor the district was, there were many students who needed medications of various sorts, ranging from inhalers, medication for disabilities, diabetes friendly food, aspirin and bandages for the fights that would break out from time to time, and other odds and ends that one found in the lower socio-economic spectrum of things. 

Naturally, the first place Kakashi went was behind the welcome desk and straight for Tsunade's office. "So, will they live?" he asked congenially, his hitae-ate back down over his scarred eye.

The nurse barked out a sharp laugh. "We were lucky with Sasuke. Aside from pulling a few muscles, he's his usual beaten self. Sakura just needed an aspirin, but if she gets light-headed later on, she knows to come right to me. Naruto and Kiba were, of course, the worst as far as injuries go. Just bumps, bruises, and the occasional cuts. They'll probably be healed by the time they come back."

Kakashi nodded, since it was a mandatory minimum of five-day Out of School Suspension for participants in a fight. "How are they?"

"I was pleasantly surprised that Naruto and Kiba weren't still steaming when they came in. Hinata seems to have calmed Naruto down considerably, and Shino has a firm grasp of Kiba."

He nodded again. "Mind if I check in before Ebisu storms in?"

"Be my guest, they're next door to each other over there," she pointed to a wall that was sectioned off with walls jutting out, forming little cubicles that could be closed off for privacy by curtains. "Just don't aggravate them. I know you're good at that."

Ignoring her jibe, he meandered away, "Thanks Tsunade-sama."

First stop, Team 7. Their curtain was partially opened, so the Scarecrow just pulled it back and came in. Naruto and Sasuke were both in beds, between them on a chair was Sakura, holding both of their hands. Pride just swelled up in Kakashi, and he let the grin come to the surface.

"I'm proud of the three of you."

They all looked at him, slack-jawed. Clearly, they weren't expecting him to say that. Good. He still had it.

"You stood up for each other, helped each other, and worked together. While _what_ was done," he glanced at the two boys, "leaves a little to be desired, the fundamental instinct to protect your friends and help each other, especially after only being together for just over a month, is something I wish I had seen more of when I was in the service. You understand that you help one another first, even if it means injury to yourself."

Sakura and Naruto smiled brightly, and Sasuke smirked, looking away with a, "Hn."

"Now, Naruto, what did Kiba say to you to make you throw the first punch?"

Naruto frowned, looking away. "Do I gotta say it, Kakashi-sensei?"

The Scarecrow grinned widely. "I merely ask for you to refer to what Iruka-sensei told you in that last week of September."

The blond squirmed. "Yeah, but I was alone then."

"Dobe."

"Shut up, teme."

"Naruto?" Sakura prompted, forestalling the less-than-enthusiastic bickering.

Sitting up with a wince, the blond looked down to the floor. "He called me a demon-child."

Well that was new. Kakashi had heard many names; both growing up and in the military, but "demon-child" was new to him. He waited for Naruto to continue, sensing a story of bullying; a sad, but not uncommon phenomenon.

"Back in elementary school, kids kinda got word that I kept having to switch foster homes. It was bad enough being called a foster kid, but at least I _am_ one." Naruto frowned at the floor. "When they realized that 'foster kid' wouldn't work, they tried 'foster-reject'." Kakashi nodded, he'd heard Ino refer to him that way during locker clean out a lifetime ago. Naruto laughed harshly. "I even agree with them on that." Sakura slapped his hand in reprimand.

"Idiot."

"That's harsh, Sakura-chaaan," the blond pleaded, a sour but soft expression on his face. "It was true until I got to Yondaime-jiji."

Sasuke snorted.

"Yes?" Kakashi prompted, not wanting conversation to be diverted.

"Well, whatever I am now, back then was different." Naruto smiled wryly, rubbing a finger under his nose. "When the kids realized that 'foster-reject' still wasn't going to rile me, they started calling me a demon, because nobody would keep a demon." He looked down at the floor again, rubbing a hand through his mussed up hair. "One of my foster parents kept calling me a demon, right about when the kids started calling me demon."

Kakashi could see where this was going.

"I was being called demon left and right, at home, at school, even a teacher called me a demon. Finally, one day I snapped and got into my first fight." Kakashi noted that Sakura and Sasuke were looking away. No doubt, this was back when they thought their blond teammate was useless and they may have even participated in the belittling. "Well, let's just say it ended up with me getting shuffled to another home and the kids soon realized that calling me a demon would get their asses whooped."

"I'll let the swearing slide this time." Kakashi grinned as Naruto sputtered and blushed, stammering an apology. The Scarecrow's face dropped, however, as he got serious again. "It's not ISS that you're looking at."

"I know," he grumbled. "OSS right?"

"Five days, minimum for any participant in a fight." He glanced over to the dark-haired Sasuke. "Although I think Ebisu-sensei will look over Sasuke's participation as simply trying to stop a fight, rather than giving you better access."

Sasuke merely looked away. "Hn."

"Ah," Naruto grumbled. "That's no fair. Ebisu-ecchi will probably give me more OSS than just five days."

"We'll see," the Scarecrow replied. "Of course, no matter what the outcome, we'll be expecting you to keep up with the school work."

"Oh please, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura retorted, "he'll be waiting at my house when Sasuke and I get off the bus. You should know that, you set us up together."

Team 7 smiled, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile back.

With his favorite team relatively stable and happy, Kakashi slipped out, checking his watch. If he were lucky, Sandaime and Ebisu would be interviewing/interrogating the other team right now, so he should be able to talk to Team 8, or, more specifically, Kiba. The anger issues he was displaying weren't putting him on a good path, and it needed to be nipped in the bud. While both Shino and Hinata were proving to be calming, they couldn't be around him all the time. So it needed to be addressed.

Sliding back the curtain, Kakashi noticed that Hinata was blushing, and apparently eavesdropping on his talk with Team 7. Taken into account Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai all noting how she tried to sit next to and all-around be near Naruto, Kakashi smelled a crush. Shino was looking up at Kiba through his dark glasses, and Kiba was looking at the wall, a huge bandage on his cheek.

"Shino, Hinata," Kakashi greeted. "I understand the two of you have been having some trouble with your teammate."

"N-no," the shy girl mumbled. "Kiba is f-fine."

The quiet boy shook his head. "He's fine with us. He works well with us and we make a good team." He looked over his shaded glasses to the English teacher. "He just doesn't understand the boundaries of common sense."

"Hey!" the bandaged boy barked.

"A very apt description," Kakashi nodded. He turned his gaze to the bedridden Kiba. "You deliberately instigated a fistfight, correct?"

He looked away. "How would you know?"

"I saw," the Scarecrow said in a flat voice. "I saw the argument. You said something and Naruto threw the first punch. Apparently, he has a reputation for punching first and asking questions second when he's called a certain name." Kiba continued to stare at the wall. "Demon-child, I believe."

Hinata winced, her whole head and shoulders crumpling into each other at the hated name of her crush and Shino's expression was unreadable behind his dark spectacles.

"Common sense," Kakashi continued, "would tell you that to say a name like that would start a fight. Did you want the five-day minimum OSS you'll be getting for this?"

"What would you know about anything!" Kiba growled. "_He's_ the one who started this! He's the one who got me a detention with Iruka-sensei!"

"But who decided to pick a fight?"

"You teachers always take _his_ side!"

"We call it like we _see_ it," Kakashi countered. "Iruka-sensei saw you doing something you shouldn't have. So because one person got away with something, it's all right for everyone? I don't know what happened in Resource, but I _do_ know what happened in lunch." He reached up and lifted his headband. "You became a bully. You many not have thrown the first punch, but this has been happening for a while. Bullying is defined as 'any overt acts by a student or group of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the other student while on school grounds or at a school-sponsored activity, which acts are repeated against the same student over time'. You've been picking on Naruto in other classes, and now this."

Kiba said nothing, just staring at the wall, scowling. Shino and Hinata stood there, not having anything to offer.

"Shino?" The Scarecrow turned to the bespectacled boy. "If you thought one of your teachers was treating you unfairly, what would you do?"

The boy looked at him, clearly not wanting to upset the balance of his team. After a long pause, he said, "Talk to the teacher."

"Excellent common sense," Kakashi agreed, turning back to Kiba. "Did you talk to any of us about the unfair treatment you feel you've been getting?"

Kiba just scowled further.

"Of course not, and when Naruto fell into you at lunch, you lashed out. Whether you knew it would get him on OSS or not is immaterial. You couldn't control your own anger at your situation and took it out on someone who was an easy target for you. You did it to make yourself feel better by knowing that there was someone worse off than you and farther down in the dirt."

He paused, knowing from Kiba's glare that he'd gotten his assessment of the situation fairly well.

"You weren't expecting him to have backup, though, did you?"

"Shut up."

"Why should someone who's supposed to be nothing, a 'demon-child' have friends that close to him?"

"Shut up!"

"After all, you're working every day as hard as you can, you don't have time for friends. But here's a boy who should have nothing, and he somehow ended up having more than you."

"SHUT UP!"

"But the real shame of it all is that you don't even realize that you have two people here who are willing to help you and back you up. You didn't even see that one of your teammates risked injury to make sure that _you_ weren't hurt anymore."

"_SHUT UP!!_"

"Am I hitting a little too close to home?" Kakashi asked blithely.

"You _fucking bastard!_"

"You're lacking common sense again. Is that really going to help your cause at all? Is swearing and shouting going to give you sympathy from either me or Ebisu-sensei when he arrives? Will throwing a tantrum like a little boy garner you the support you want? Will--"

There was a tug at his sleeve and Kakashi looked down to see Hinata grasping it, looking down at the floor.

"Sensei," she whispered. "Please."

He looked back at the fuming bandaged boy. "Do you even see what you have?" With that, he did as Hinata had silently requested and left. To his left, Sakura's head was peaking out the curtain.

"Everything alright, Kakashi-sensei?"

The Scarecrow smiled. "Just fine. Get back with your team. You'll have to answer Ebisu-sensei's questions about what happened when he gets here."

"Okay." She raised an eyebrow at him. Apparently, he still puzzled the students with his ability to switch from lackadaisical to hard-as-nails and back again. Kakashi just smiled all the more.

Now that he'd checked on his teams, the Scarecrow wandered to the front of the health center where Tsunade was glaring at him full force.

"What did I say about _not_ aggravating my patients?"

"Aaah, well he needed a long hard look at things around him. Being gentle just wouldn't cut it."

Tsunade scoffed. "Ebisu's waiting in my office if you have any cases to plead. Just stay away from my patients."

Kakashi nodded, knowing that getting Tsunade angry tended to be a really bad idea. He'd only been on the receiving end of her wrath once, during his first year, and he avoided ending up like _that_ again ever since.

"Yo, Ebisu," he greeted, leaning on the doorframe.

"Ah, Kakashi," the vice principal greeted, standing straight and rigid. "I saw you slip out of the Lecture Hall. You've been speaking with the students, I take it?"

"Only for a few minutes," he replied lightly. "I saw the entire fight, how much did you see?" For all the complaints that teachers had with Ebisu, justified as they were, Kakashi knew how to deal with the man. Put yourself in a position that you either had power, or desperately needed information, and the vice principal would listen to you. If you were the one with the question, Ebisu tended to look down his nose.

"I only saw after the girl was shoved. How did it start?"

"Then allow me to enlighten you." Kakashi gave everything he saw in full, emphasizing how Naruto was the first to back down until Sakura was hurt. He glossed over Sasuke deliberately kicking Kiba's legs out, making it sound like it was the only thing the injured boy could do, and pointing out that Sasuke, a student with a history of never getting involved, was standing up for his friends, despite his recent upheaval. He talked about what Kiba had said to set Naruto off and gave the little he knew about what had happened in Resource.

Ebisu frowned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were lobbying to ensure that both Kiba and Naruto got only a five-day OSS."

Kakashi grinned, "Really? I know that not being in school will have both of them miss the material we're covering. Neither can afford it when they're finally doing well in school. Kiba reacted to anger, so he might need some anger counseling and Naruto didn't start the fight. Plus he was willing to break off. There's no question that they both deserve OSS. Fighting is unacceptable and should be discouraged strongly. But I still see a lot of hope around each child."

The vice principal snorted. "You're lobbying alright. Don't worry Kakashi. This is a first offense for both of them _this year_. They'll only get five days." Ebisu shifted, so that he was looking down his nose, despite the fact that Kakashi was taller. "But next time I won't be so forgiving."

The Scarecrow nodded. "You're always fair with the students, Ebisu-sensei." They talked a few more minutes, and Kakashi found out what the writing assignment Sandaime assigned was. Each student had to write a letter of apology and state everything that the heard and saw in regards to the food fight. The English teacher agreed with the assignment and further decided he'd grade each letter as a test.

Finished with his business, Kakashi left the health center to go back to his room. No doubt F period had begun and the students would be hard to control for the rest of the day, since they'd be abuzz about both the food fight and the fist fight at lunch.

As if the day wasn't long enough and it wasn't even over yet.

* * *

The following day, Kakashi had a surprise in homeroom. He walked in just as the bell rang and went to log into his computer when he noticed something strange. As his computer booted up, he walked over to the strange sight and looked down at it. 

Sakura looked up to him and smiled. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You've cut our hair," he stated.

She shrugged. "There was a hopeless amount of gunk in it from the food fight. The only way to get rid of hit was to get my hair cut."

Kakashi frowned. Despite the milk carton that had initiated the fight between Kiba and Naruto, that part of the cafeteria wasn't as into flinging food as other parts.

Sighing, Sakura looked away. "It was too easy to grab my hair," she said quietly. "I don't want Sasuke and Naruto thinking they have to look after me. I can take care of myself. I'm their support, right?"

Finally Kakashi smiled. It seemed that Sakura was concerned that her teammates would wanted to shield her from the harshness of life that had been dealt to them, but Sakura was determined to help and support them, even if she might get hurt in the process as yesterday proved. Kakashi's Team 7 was starting to mature. He couldn't be more proud.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** We. Hate. Food fights. We also hate fistfights, and between the two of us we've broken up quite a few. They're never pleasant. And food fights are just nasty, disgusting, gooey conglomerates of ickyness. 

Simply Manialoll: We're so glad you're enjoying the story. We've seen many "high school" fics and were never truly happy with how they portrayed things. We've been on both sides, as students and as teachers. So, we set out to challenge ourselves. Enter Team Time. Nobody ever came from the teachers point of view, and seeing as how we're teachers, this was a humble attempt to educate readers as well as entertain. And yes, we allow anonymous reviews. You generated a lot for us with your recommendations and we thank you very much for it. We're grateful.

NarutardTeacher: Ah, another teacher. We have to ask, what grade and what subject? We're both math 7-12, subbing while looking for a more permanent position. And yes, it's a shame that these things still happen in our society. You'd think that America, which has so much money and resources, would be able to eliminate it, but no, poverty is still an ailment we suffer from. sigh And like we said way back in the first chapter, this isn't even getting into some of the grittier things we've seen students deal with. But besides all that, we're glad you're enjoying the story.

Ryuu-Chan: We're glad you like the different perspective we have going on in this chapter. Like we said above, it's part educational, and part entertainment. Over the course of writing, we've actually found it theraputic as well. We're telling stories that we've seen/been through in a more positive outlet. At least, we hope so.

Pairingwarfreak: Actually, we do have some pairings developing throughout the fic, but you really have to squint to see them. This story isn't about making people hook up, it's about showing things that readers may not know about. Our purpose is to show the average fanfiction reader (suburbian teenager) that their views of "tough" schools might not be accurate, and what reality is. We've said it before, all of these stories that you're reading have happened to either us or someone we know. This isn't the bullying that high school fics have, this is closer to how it happens instead of the sometimes skewed imagination of the writer. Bullying is can be very subtle and is rarely the guy-with-gang-behind-him intimidation. However, in short, yes, there are some subtle pairings. Just like in the anime where it's implied that Asuma and Kurenai could be a couple, or Ino and Shikamaru, we keep our hints implied.

I:heart:narutofanfictions: Yes, we were also amazed by how neatly things fell into place with our various experiences. We're so glad you're enjoying.

Yaoi-fan-4-life: Yes, Kakashi makes us very happy as well. Such as the above chapter where he deals out consequences, both positive and negative, and tries to get each situation to turn into what's best for the student. He's manipulative that way. .

Smileyfacedayandnight: Glad you're enjoying. This story is written based on each month having four weeks and we're updating every Saturday unless we get off course with the current school year. The story is already done, we just need to put it up, one week at a time. We hope that's enough of an update schedule for you.grin

Thanks everyone.


	15. Week 14

**December: Week Fourteen**

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi said as he strolled into the conference room. Iruka gave him an annoyed look but otherwise said nothing. He sat next to the special education teacher and eyed the others in the room. Sandaime was there, instead of Ebisu, as was the hated Orochimaru. Kakashi was a professional, though, and did not give the guidance counselor the satisfaction of knowing that the Snake got under his skin. 

Yashamaru was there, unlike last time when they had waited half the period for Gaara's guardian to show up. The PPT secretary passed around the meeting form and everyone signed in.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay long," Gaara's uncle stated, "My boss doesn't like that I'm taking the time off at all, and I'll need to get back soon before he docks me."

"What work to do you do?" Sandaime asked, fingering his pipe but not lighting it.

"I work in customer service at the supermarket," the blonde explained quickly, "I usually deal with the people who feel that they've been slighted or short changed, so the boss kicks them all my way so that they can scream at me." He gave a sardonic grin. "I guess I'm the only one who can put up with it. Today's been really bad. I would have called to reschedule, but I've already done that to you people twice, so..." He left it hanging.

"I see," Sandaime said. "As you know, Ebisu scheduled this meeting over the weekend when it came to his attention that Gaara seems to be skipping classes.

Yashamaru blinked. "Didn't we already settle this? I talked to him, and he grumbled a little but said he's go to class. One of you teachers, the math one I think, even emailed me to say that he was staying to the end of the period."

"Yes, that's true," Iruka said. "He did pretty well for about a week, but then he started slowly cutting again. For example, just yesterday, he was late for homeroom and social studies. He took a pass in science and was gone for fifteen minutes, and didn't even show up to his math class. The hall monitors found him hiding in the boys bathroom." Iruka leaned back, rubbing his scarred nose. "He'll stay in my classes because he knows I have my eye on him."

"I see," Yashamaru said, his brow creasing. "He hasn't said anything at home, only that he hates math."

"Can you think of any reason as to why he'd skip his classes? Some kind of trigger?" Sandaime gently asked.

"Not really," Yashamaru replied, looking at his watch. "I mean, I do what I can. He doesn't really talk much at home, but I listen and do what I can. It's kind of like work, really, he bitches and I listen, smiling and nodding. There are some students he can't stand." He frowned, thinking. "Those 'Team 7 bastards' he calls them. Oh, sorry for my language," he said quickly. "It's two boys, he doesn't call them by name. One is the 'blond bastard' and the other is just 'that guy!'."

"I have a good idea who they are," Kakashi said. He glanced at Iruka, who was already thrumming through his notebook.

"Yeah, they have the last four classes together," Iruka said. "Well, one of them, at any rate. I don't have the other's schedule."

"Then you know who they are?" Yashamaru asked. "Can't you just, like, change their schedules or something?"

"Actually, that would be a bad idea," Kakashi said, putting his chin in his hand and slouching a little further in his chair. "The last thing we want is for Gaara to think that he can get his way if he throws a tantrum. Just because there's a student or two he doesn't like doesn't mean we wave our scheduling wands and make it all go away. One of his goals this year is to give him more experiences with people to develop his otherwise stagnated social skills. That necessitates that he learns how to deal with people he doesn't like."

"Yes," Iruka continued. "In the last two years he's gotten a handle on how to interact with people, but he still doesn't really understand that if something happens that he doesn't like he can't just start swearing and threatening. Besides, he has a plethora of supports to use if he needs to. I'm on call, for one, I'll drop whatever class I'm in and go to him if he wants, and he's close to a few of the paras. He can come to the nurse, to guidance, to Ebisu-sensei or Sandaime-sama if they're free, and of course he has you. We'll build up a scaffolding for him to work with, give him behavioral sheets to fill out after something significant has happened so he can self-assess how he did, that sort of thing."

"Then what do we do?" Yashamaru asked, looking at his watch again. The blond man was starting to twitch, clearly anxious to get back to work.

"For now, we will have to put him on pass restriction," the old man said. "He's not to be given a pass unless someone, most likely a paraprofessional, is free to escort him to and fro. This ensures that he gets where he needs to and does what he has to, and then comes right back. It also sends the message that he should put some thought as to whether it's absolutely necessary for him to go."

"I see. Well, do what you have to," Yashamaru said, standing. "I'll back you on it. I'm sorry, I really have to get back to work."

"One last question," Kakashi called out before Gaara's guardian completely disappeared. "Have you noticed anything about Gaara's sleep patterns?"

The man paused, surprised by the question and thinking about it before replying. "I don't know. I usually get home late, and after we've told each other about our days I just go to bed because I'm so tired. He's usually in his room listening to music at that point, so I can't really say."

"Okay, just wondering."

"Uh, yeah. I really have to go. Thanks! Bye!" And he was gone.

Iruka let out a long sigh. "This sucks. How can we get anything done if Yashamaru-san keeps leaving like that?"

"Perhaps you should try to schedule these PPTs when the poor man actually has time?" Orochimaru asked blithely. He'd been silent throughout the meeting.

"You're assuming the poor guy even has time," Kakashi shot back, equally as blithe. Damn the man for trying to make this Iruka's fault. He turned to the special ed teacher. "I've seen him at the supermarket. I think he pulls double shifts, because I've seen him there both before school when I get my coffee, and after school. I just hope he's giving enough attention to Gaara if he's so busy."

"He seems to," Iruka replied. "At least Gaara thinks so."

"Kakashi," Sandaime asked, "What was your question about his sleep referring to?"

"Just that there are days when Gaara has really deep circles under his eyes. You can tell even under all the eye makeup. I don't think he sleeps well. I don't know if it's the medication or what, but sometimes he's struggling to keep his eyes open in class."

"I noticed that to," Iruka said, writing it down in his PPT folder. "I'll talk with him tomorrow, see if he'll open up to me."

The meeting adjourned and the adults stood up to scatter about the building. The old man, however, pulled Kakashi aside. "Hyuga Hinata's father is in my office right now. He is not happy."

"I don't think he knows how to be happy," Kakashi drawled, but inside he winced. Iruka hadn't been kidding when he said that they would have his job, apparently. Why was it always the parents with high expectations that turned out to be the worst enemy? He gave a silent sigh before adding, "Do you want me to come?"

"Yes. Hyuga-san isn't being entirely clear on what is going on; and besides, you should be given the opportunity to defend yourself."

As they left the guidance office and entered the main office, Kakashi paused only long enough to borrow Shizune's phone and call Iruka, let him know that he'd be late for Team Time for a reason very different than his usual excuses. He just hoped he'd get the opportunity to eat. Worst-case scenario, he'd have to get his lunch and eat it during F.

He entered the old man's office and saw that the Hyuga head was sitting not by Sandime's desk, but at the head of the conference table. Hmph. Self-important, apparently.

"Yo," he said, waiving a hand before sitting opposite Sandaime. "I hear you want to complain about me."

Hyuga gave Kakashi a hard stare before turning to Sandaime. "Why is he here?" he demanded. "I thought this was to be kept private."

"It is private," the old man replied, placing he unlit pipe in his mouth. "Kakashi is obviously involved in this dispute, it seemed appropriate that he be here to straighten it out."

"Then you favor the teachers over the parents who pay the bills."

"No," Sandaime said congenially. "Not at all. I don't favor anybody. In fact, that has nothing to do with this. I am a firm believer that, if two people have a disagreement, then the two people need to settle it. I will of course moderate as necessary. Now, perhaps we can begin by your explaining what your complaint is with Kakashi-sensei."

"In November, during parent-teacher conferences, he made several statements that were not only untrue, but offensive and undermining. All my children were present when he made these remarks, degrading the situation even further because his crass comments undermined my authority over them."

"I see, and what was it that he said?" the old man asked.

"He accused me and my wife of putting undo pressure on Hinata to pass, that it was _our_ influence that was generating her dismal grades when the truth of the matter is that it is the teachers who are failing her."

"I see. Kakashi-sensei, is Hinata failing your class?"

"Nope. Quite the contrary, since she's gotten used to her literary group, her grade has managed to inch upwards by several points." He paused thinking. "I think she's pulled up to a seventy-eight now, that's a C+. The second quarter has only barely started, there's plenty of time for her to do even better."

"I see. What was her grade for first quarter, then?"

"A perfect seventy-five."

"That is not a bad grade to have," the old man said, leaning back in the chair. "I assume this to mean that she is being challenged?"

"Of course," Kakashi said genially, eyeing Hyuga. "Every year the material gets a little harder, and you know that I in particular am always demanding the best of my students. Hinata works very hard. Shino, one of her teammates is very encouraging for her, and she feels a particular pride when she helps her other teammate."

"You mean that filthy Inuzuka boy," Hyuga said. "What on earth possessed you to put such a miscreant with her?"

"Because it was good for her," Kakashi said, seemingly surprised at the question. "Isn't that obvious?"

Hyuga snorted, looking furious.

"Perhaps you would care to explain it to an old man who wasn't there," Sandaime said, "what was in your mind when you were picking her team?"

"Well, there were a couple of things I was thinking about," Kakashi said, happy for the opportunity. The old man was directing this well. "With Hinata, I wanted to put her in a group she could feel comfortable in. She's so shy, that putting her with other students like Haruno Sakura or Uchiha Sasuke would intimidate her. Other students like Uzumaki Naruto or Kazekage Gaara would be too loud, and she wouldn't know how to deal with them.

"The first choice was Aburame Shino. He's quiet and well mannered, a similar disposition to Hinata and therefore more approachable. He's bright, too, so he would be a great support for her if she started struggling. With Shino at the reigns, she wouldn't feel the pressure to be perfect, and therefore she could focus on what she needed to do: the assignment.

"Similarly, Inuzuka Kiba acts as an esteem booster. If he starts to struggle with the work, it's Hinata, who wants to be helpful, who will put her work on hold and help him out. Once she got past the stammering, she actually is very good at explaining things to him; she has a knack for making analogies, and Kiba picks up on them right away. Not only does this boost confidence in herself that she knows the material, it also solidifies her learning, because as we all know, you need to know curriculum inside out in order to teach it."

He paused, gauging Hyuga. Old man Sandaime was nodding sagely, having expected this level of detail and thought in any choice that Kakashi ever made. Hyuga hadn't expected this however, or at least had rationalized everything to fit his skewed view of the English teacher. His face was cold, stony; he glared at Kakashi openly. To squirm was one thing; it was another to aggravate him. It was because of that that Kakashi deliberately didn't mention the other reasons for forming Team 8. With Shino as leader, Hinata wouldn't feel the need to be perfect, yes, but she would also not feel the pressure to be the one to have all the answers; Shino acted as an answer key when the girl became stuck, and it gave her the confidence to try more.

"Overall, it's worked out rather well. Hinata feels very comfortable with her team, and we were all surprised when she showed enough backbone to stick up for her team last week. It was a thing to be proud of."

"To what are you referring?" Hyuga asked, his grey eyes narrow, accusatory.

Kakashi feigned a blink of surprise and cocked his head to the side. "Oh, didn't she tell you? She helped break up a fight. She was very brave, really. The entire sevnth grade team was gushing over it the next day." He had suspected that the girl hadn't mentioned the fight; he'd caught signs of it when he listened in yesterday, and the idea of Hinata being heroic and worthy of pride was clearly a blow to the Hyuga's self esteem. Good, served him right.

"Yes, I remember her letter after the fact," Sandaime said, nodding again. "She was quite eloquent in her defense of the fighters; she labored very hard to make it clear that it was a misunderstanding and that it was not worth the trouble they would most likely get into. She had great passion in that letter. Whatever happened to it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Taking his cue, Kakashi replied, "Oh, she got an eighty-seven, as I recall. Her content was superb; and her structure was the best I've seen out of her. The spelling and grammar pulled her down a bit, but it was one of her best grades so far." He turned to Hyuga. "Did you want to see it? It's probably buried in my room somewhere."

"No. That will be quite enough." Hyuga stood and stared at them both. "Clearly this conversation is at an end."

"I see," Sandaime said. "I hope that we have sufficiently cleared up this matter." But Hyuga appeared to have not heard it, having already left the room.

The principal and the English teacher both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kakashi," the old man sighed, "I appreciate your opinions, I always have, and your insight into matters is phenomenal. But I _do_ wish you would keep at least _some_ of your opinions to yourself. I really can't afford to lose your expertise, but there are times when you seem determined to get yourself fired."

"You know me, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi said finally. He leaned forward, digging and elbow into his crossed leg and holding his chin in a hand. "Eccentric to a fault."

"You should know by now that that doesn't work with me," the old man said, pulling his pipe out of his mouth. "Why does the Hyuga bother you?"

Kakashi frowned, looking down at his crossed leg, a dozen different memories vying for position in his eyes. "He... reminds me of someone."

"Whom does he remind you of?" Sandaime asked, eyeing his teacher critically.

"... My father."

"Ah, Sakumo-kun. I remember him. A genius, like you."

"... No. Not like me."

"You do not speak much of him," Sandaime said softly. "I take it you did not have a good relationship?"

"Jiraiya could tell you about our 'relationship,'" Kakashi said bitterly. The genius son of a genius man, Hatake Sakumo just _knew_ that his son was meant for great things, so better get him started right away. Little Kakashi was in school for as long as he could remember. He entered middle school when he was five and high school when he was ten. He had three college degrees by the time he was seventeen. The material was laughably easy; none of the curriculum challenged him. The other kids couldn't stand him, however, at having such a damn efficient _baby_ in their midst; and socially Kakashi was not developed enough to be able to deal with it. He pleaded with his father only once.

"Please, please can I be in a grade with kids my own age?"

Sakumo had stared down at his son, tiny in comparison to the big, famous man, and said, frowning, "Do you mean to tell me that you can't handle a few childish jibes?"

"No, I can't."

"Then you are not the son I wanted."

And because Kakashi loved his father, he never complained again.

He had been eager to join military, it was the first decision he made that had nothing to do with his father, or his father's legacy. The Yellow Flash had encouraged it, saying Kakashi needed to find out who he was outside his father's shadow. In training he'd met Obito, the donor of his better eye and the first friend he'd ever had, and Rin, his teacher in social interaction and...

Kakashi shook his head. He wasn't ready to visit those memories; not even after all these years. Frankly, he wasn't ready for _any_ of the memories, but some of them he just had to visit. Obito was one. But Rin...

He shook his head again, realizing he'd drifted off in the principal's office. He turned to the old man, unaware of how haunted he'd become in those few minutes of reflection. Sandaime was looking at him with gentle eyes, his pipe again in his mouth. The old man took a deep breath through his nostrils and exhaled.

"I had heard of Sakumo-kun's... passing. Scars like that are painful, and you of all people have had your share of pain. I can understand if you don't want to talk about it." Kakashi hid his cringe. That was another memory he didn't particularly want to revisit. He understood the malice of it, but he had actually been relieved at his father's "passing" as the old man had put it. His father, towards the end, had suffered from an extremely rare neurological disorder that the old man had refused to acknowledge. The final manifestation was delusional paranoia - he'd even believed that Kakashi was trying to kill him, and had attacked the boy when he was only eight. It was six weeks later that Kakashi came home to see the old man with a knife in his belly and blood all over the kitchenette floor.

Kakashi had calmly picked up a phone and called an ambulance and explained the situation. The operator at the other end wasn't entirely sure that the boy wasn't making a crank call because of his level voice. His calm demeanor disturbed the EMTs as he explained what the doctor had said two years previous about his illness. And his new foster father, a man who insisted on being called the Yellow Flash, took four years worth of work with a crowbar to get past Kakashi's calculated, cold, indifferent intelligence - steps that included a lot of hair ruffling; stupid games like tic-tac-toe, Monopoly, charades, and ring-around-the-rosie; ice cream; tickles; and bad comedies.

Another, darker, bloodier memory filled Kakashi's brain and he finally stood up. "I have to go," he said softly, feeling tired, old even despite his young age.

"No," Sandaime said, "I have to go. I have lunch duty to get to. Take all the time you need."

Kakashi never showed up to Team.

* * *

F period came and Kakashi had finally pulled himself together. Iruka's glare vanished immediately into a frown when he saw the dark look in Kakashi's eyes as he walked into class. "Yo!" he said lightly, waiving a hand. "I see everyone's working in their vocabulary books. That's a pleasant surprise for a busy teacher like myself." 

"Busy!" Sasuke muttered. Chouji laughed in response but stopped when Ino glared at him.

"I'm curious what the excuse is this time," Sakura said, looking at her teacher.

"Maa, well, let's see, how about we say that the world split open and I was dropped into another world where I was the master of a giant key and had to travel from world to world with a talking dog and a duck with no pants to in order to find--"

"LIAR!" Ino shrieked before Kakashi could finish. He grinned weakly.

"Well, if that's the case, then I guess today being a makeup day is out."

"WHAT?!" the class cried out.

"Oh? Did you want one?"

Kakashi handed out the lists of missing assignments for each student that he'd printed out during his prep and the class almost automatically divided into their literary groups, which were now all purpose groups they used to get work done. "Teams Six and Nine, how many times do I have to remind you to not sit together?" he asked. "Oh, and as a reminder, you have until the end of the period to turn it all in."

"WHAT?!" Several students hunched forward over their desks, desperate to get the work in.

Iruka walked over and leaned over Kakashi's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

He'd gone from zero to normal in the span of the sixty-odd paces it took for him to walk from Sandaime's office to his room. No, he was not okay. But, "I'll be okay," he replied. "Just a bad period last period."

The special education teacher nodded, knowing when to not pry, and began circulating around the room. Kakashi remained seated at his desk, closing his eyes and listening.

"It just gets on my nerves," that was the rich voice of Temari. "She's so prissy and goody-goody. 'I'm top of the class and I'm best-friends with _Sasuke-kun_! You're beneath my notice you pitiful human being!' She's just so damn perfect it drives me nuts. And _she_ has such an ego. Both of them are just bitches with pretty makeup."

Kakashi frowned, continuing to listen.

"It's not all that difficult," Kankuro said. "All you have to do is set it up right. Spread a rumor about one girl and then go to her and say the other one started it. That kind of thing; maybe break into a locker and put it in the other one's locker. Does either of them keep diaries?"

"Those are kept at home, you idiot."

"Geez, I'm not a girl. How would I know?" Kakashi opened his eyes to see Kankuro grin evilly. "Hey, you have that camera, right? Why not take a compromising photo of one of them where--"

Kakashi's crumpled paper landed perfectly on Kankuro's made up face. "I don't really want to know about your compromising photos, Kankuro, so get back to work. You, too, Temari."

The class giggled briefly. Kakashi made a mental note to pass on the information at Team tomorrow, that there may be a rumor war starting for either Haruno Sakura or Yamanaka Ino. Overall chatter was still about last week's fight between Naruto and Kiba. Both boys were still absent, due back Thursday. Kids always thought that everything was their business. Teams 6 and 9 were passing notes back and forth here and there, but the good news was that most of the class was focused on getting their work done. Some, like Sasuke and Sakura and most of Team 5, had all their work in and spent their time doing extra worksheets Kakashi had for just such an occasion.

Team 8 was quiet, Kiba's absence making it so; the pair would occasionally share worried glances. Team 10, meanwhile, was doing almost nothing. It was one of the few teams Kakashi was beginning to doubt their ability to work together. Shikamaru had his head on his desk, once again feeling lazy. Chouji was trying to work, but was clearly struggling - Iruka was working with him. Ino, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at Team 7, her paper crinkled in her fists as she watched the two work together.

The blonde's eye lit up, however, as an idea suddenly sprang into her mind. Kakashi watched in growing apprehension as Ino shimmied her desk closer to Shikamaru and suddenly laced an arm around his shoulders. Shikamaru, who had his head on the desk, sat up in surprise so quickly he fell out of his seat, a yelp escaping this throat. The entire class looked up at the display.

"What the heck are you doing?" he demanded.

"Awwww, Shika-_chan_," Ino said, her voice two octaves higher and supposedly meant to sound sweet and cute (to Kakashi it sounded like how a rat would talk), "Is that any way to talk to your _girlfriend_?"

Oh, no, Kakashi thought. Not one of _those_.

"When the hell did you decide that?!" Shikamaru demanded, justifiably mortified.

"Don't be silly, Shika-chan!" Ino cooed. She locked her arms in front of her, hunching up her shoulders and casting her gaze down, trying to look demure, the English teacher supposed, but not realizing that she was emphasizing a development that was more pronounced on her than other girls her age. Several boys in the class stared at that particular development.

Before things could get worse, Iruka stepped in. "Perhaps the two of you could discuss your relationship after class, say, in my room after school?"

Ino pouted - another trigger for the boys - and got back to work. Shikamaru gathered up his things and pleaded with Iruka to go to his room. The special education teacher threw a glance at Kakashi, and the Scarecrow nodded his assent. Iruka picked up Shikamaru, Chouji, and Gaara and took them to his room for one-on-three help. They were gone for the rest of the period.

* * *

The next day, Wednesday, Kakashi passed on what had happened in his class. 

Kurenai groaned. "Not one of _those_," she moaned.

"I thought about the same thing," Kakashi said, flipping a page in his beloved book. "Ino is now going to go looking for boyfriend after boyfriend in order to make Sasuke and/or Sakura jealous. In the meantime, the boys are going to follow her in droves, because she developed a little earlier than everyone else. Can anyone say 'statutory rape'?"

"It's going to get even worse when she realizes what her curves and breasts can do to boys," Kurenai said. "I saw it at my old school. Even the preppy girls would wear shirts and skirts that were ridiculously short, exposing their navels, hugging their hips, and using spaghetti straps to get what they wanted out of boys. They were always surprised when the boys wanted sex, but went along with it because they thought it was what was supposed to happen, and then they'd be surprised when they got pregnant."

"I thought your lush private school was upper echelon?" Asuma asked.

"With no dress code," Kurenai said. "The school's been trying to instill one for years. Remember Halloween, I said there were French maids and sex kittens, there were also cowgirls and dominatrix'; one girl wore a denim skirt that might as well have been painted on, and she left the button open. Admin could do nothing to stop her." She sighed. "I thought it would be better in a middle school."

"Alas," Gai said, "this is the time in their lives when they begin to learn such un-youthful habits!"

"I have Ino B period tomorrow," Asuma said, grabbing at a cigarette that wasn't there. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

"I say we wait," Iruka said. "There's a cold snap coming in by the end of the week, and the last of the kids should be switching to their winter clothing about then. Let's see how she dresses for winter. As much as experience tells us what's going to happen, she doesn't know it yet, and telling her will just make her do it all the more. You know how contrary she is." He grinned suddenly as a thought struck him. "You should have seen Shikamaru once he was in my room yesterday. He couldn't believe something like that could happen to him. I think he's finally realized that he has a little crush on her, that's why he lets her boss him around."

"At least Shikamaru would be safe for her to pair off with," Kakashi said. "It would also help their team relations, since she just yells at Chouji and him and yells more when they don't do as she says. I doubt that will last, though."

"Oh, to remind you," Iruka said, "Shikamaru has a PPT tomorrow during C. Maybe you can show up on time?"

Kakashi looked at Iruka as if he'd just insulted him.

"I should have known," Iruka sighed.

Gai laughed good-naturedly. "Our illustrious team leader will never be on time so long as he has a say in the matter. His perpetual tardiness helps shore up his cool avatar, so that he may better hide how insecure and troubled he really is." Gai said it jokingly, but it was a true enough statement. It passed over Kurenai, but Iruka's eyes widened slightly, as if a layer of understanding had been placed over his thoughts of the English teacher.

"Whatever," Kakashi said, not really wanting that kind of attention. "I also expect trouble from Temari. She seems to hate the female student body in general, and I think dear Kankuro may be giving her ideas on how to start trouble."

"Yeah, has anyone else noticed that if there's big trouble, he tends to be in the background?" Asuma asked. "He's always got his cat-grin on his face in my class whenever Kiba and Gaara when he shows and Naruto start to go at it. I'm almost convinced he's the one who started the fights between Yuzuhi and Maname."

"He is," Kakashi said, flipping a page of his book. "Usually he takes something from one and then lets her know, and she automatically assumes it's the other."

"He's so fast," Kurenai said, "I can't catch him at it."

"Something to keep an eye on," Kakashi concluded. Iruka finished writing it down before Kakashi moved on to the next item. "How is our bank account now?"

Asuma smiled. "Those headband things," he said, pointing to his, "was a stroke of brilliance. We tripled our account size with that sale. With all of us wearing it as advertisement, the kids were flocking to the order forms. Plus, we have the Christmas dance tickets selling really well, and after we deduct the money for supplies, we should have another hundred dollars or so to put in our account."

"That's better than we usually do," Iruka said as he marked it in the team notebook. "Maybe we can go to that amusement park at the end of the year. That would be nice."

"Ebisu is supposed to observe me tomorrow," said Kurenai. "I just hope it goes okay."

"Is it your first or second?" Gai asked.

"My first."

"He's late on the ball," Iruka said, frowning.

"It was supposed to be three weeks ago, but he keeps rescheduling. Random parents keep coming in right when he's about to leave to come see me."

Asuma snorted. "At least that's what he says."

"You'll be fine," Iruka said encouragingly. "He'll sit in the back of the room with his laptop and just watch and take notes. He sort of transcribes what he sees, and then he'll email it to you. It's the post observation meeting where stuff actually happens."

Seeing Kurenai's worried expression, Kakashi added, "He's not great at wording, but he goes out of his way to be fair. He will note the positives, eventually, and he helps you brainstorm ideas on how to work on the negatives. He just tends to look down his nose at you when he does that. He means well, though. He passed me on my observations, and if I could do it, you'll be a breeze."

Kurenai frowned, sensing as story, but seeing that Kakashi wasn't offering the nightmare known as his First Year, she only nodded, offering her thanks. Kakashi looked at the clock. "We don't have time today, but tomorrow I want to talk about yesterday's faculty meeting. We also have a union meeting tonight, who's going?"

"I have to," Kurenai said, unhappy.

"And I, too, shall make my presence known!" Gai said expansively.

That was when the bell rang.

* * *

There were two PPTs the following day. The first was C period, and Kakashi finally strolled into the conference room in the guidance office to meet Shikamaru's father. Kakashi could see the resemblance right away. They shook hands and the secretary, as usual, passed out the forms for everyone to sign. 

Jiraiya, the guidance counselor, slid a sheaf of paper over to Nara. "These are Shikamaru's grades so far."

"Well, at least he's doing well in math," Nara said, frowning as he looked over the assessment. "But why are the rest of his grades so poor?"

"My grade isn't entirely accurate," Kakashi said, gesturing to the paper. "We had a makeup day the other day, and Shikamaru turned in quite a bit or work that he owed me that I haven't had a chance to grade yet."

"The biggest problem with Shikamaru is his work ethic," Iruka said. "In resource, he'll happily go over to Asuma-sensei for help with his math, but for the other subjects he'd be much more happy sitting on the register and staring out the window at the clouds."

Nara laughed. "That does sound like my son. He's like that at home, too. I ask him if he's working and he'll say he is, but I come in and he's just staring out the window. His mother has to stand over his shoulder to get him to work, and that's not really the kind of message we want to give to him."

"I have some comments from his teachers," Jiraiya said, "from when they got the email about the PPTs. They're all about the same, saying that he's extremely bright and has the ability to be 'beyond successful,' as his science teacher puts it, but that he just 'doesn't feel like doing the work,' says his art teacher."

"Yes," Nara said. "My son's a genius, but he's a lazy piece of work. About the only thing I've ever seen him take an active interest in - even deliberately make time for - are his puzzle games; shogi, chess, that sort of thing."

"Then something you might want to consider is using that as a leverage," Iruka said. "Asuma-sensei, before he recommended him for eighth grade math, had great success in getting work out of Shikamaru when he threatened to not let him play those games until it was done."

"Oh," Nara replied, his eyes widening. "That works? We've tried it once or twice, but without much success."

"Where are the boards?" Kakashi asked.

"His room."

"That might be why, then. Sneak into his room and steal it, and tell him you have to see completed work before he can play in the kitchen or something."

"Hmm. Something to think about."

Jiraiya nodded, moving on. "His math teacher has nothing but praise for Shikamaru, from the looks of it. Bright, intelligent, flawless worker, well behaved when - oho! - when he's not sleeping in class."

Nara burst out laughing. "That's just like Shikamaru! Hahahaha! I'll talk to him tonight when he gets home. Sleeping in class! Oh, that's just like him!"

All in all, they all agreed that things were going very well for Shikamaru, and they decided not to make any changes in his IEP. Nara left saying he'd try the shogi bargaining-chip idea and let Iruka know how it went. For once, a PPT didn't last until the end of the period, and Kakashi had a full ten minutes of his prep to goof off before SSR began.

Two periods later, Kakashi, Iruka, and Jiraiya were again assembled in the guidance office conference room, this time with a greasy looking man with wild brown hair and hands so dirty they were black.

"Sorry about my appearance," Inuzuka said, "The car I was working on took longer than I thought, and I didn't have time to clean up and get changed."

"That's fine," Kakashi said. "If I can come to school as rumpled as I do most of the time, a little grease can't hurt."

"I wanted you to know that I had a long talk with my son last week about the fight," Inuzuka said. "I didn't raise any of my kids to get into fights, it's an insult to me as a father, I told him, and he seemed to take it well. He mentioned some of the things you said, Kakashi-san," he added, "and I gotta hand it to you. You put him on a mind-bender. Spent the entire week quiet as could be. 'Least he was when I was there; I work double shifts at the gas station. The kids all said he was real quiet."

"Well," Kakashi said, "At least he's thinking."

"Ain't that the truth. He's always been impulsive; sometimes I don't think there's a filter between his brain and his mouth. Whatever he thinks up, he says it right then and there."

"It's good to see that he's learned from the fight," Jiraiya said. "Did he do the class work that was sent home to him?"

"I sat with him myself when I got home. We'd all eat dinner and I'd look ever his work. Couple of kids was always over, helping him. Timid little girl and a boy with shades." Kakashi openly grinned.

"I have a question," Iruka said, looking up from his folder. "When he came to school today, he was, uh..." he paused, trying to find a tactful word for what he wanted to say.

"Dirty?" Inuzuka asked. He smiled warmly. "That's the dogs. We have three of them, and he spends a lot of time helping out at the kennel. They pay him under the table for the time he puts in. I think he spent most of his timeout either at the kennels or in his room doing his work. He gets so busy with them sometimes I think he forgets to shower! Haha!" He put a hand behind his head, scratching at his scalp and putting dirt into his thick brown locks. "Cleanliness isn't the most closely followed rule in our house, but I do soak them in water once a week."

Iruka frowned, clearly disapproving.

"Hey," Inuzuka said, sensing it, "I do the best I can. I got five kids, no mama, and a minimum wage job. I can't afford the water bill unless I throw them in the shower once a week. We don't have a dishwasher or a clothes washer, and it costs too much to go to the Laundromat. There comes a point where I just have to start making sacrifices. I tell all the rugrats to take a shower in gym and eat whatever's in the cafeteria. Welfare just doesn't pay enough for a single dad with five kids."

"I wasn't criticizing how you raise your children, Inuzuka-san. I was just curious."

The father snorted, not quite ready to let go of the slight.

Kakashi stepped in. "Look, it's his first day back after a week, he looked a little peaked and he smelled a little, and we were just concerned. You would be, too, I'm sure."

Inuzuka frowned briefly, but then smiled a little. "I guess you're right," he offered.

"Moving on," Jiraiya said. "We noticed that his grade dropped a little in social studies. We just wanted to bring that to your attention. Obviously, since he only just got back, this week will be about readjusting himself and making sure he's caught up. After that, though, I want to see if we can squeeze him into making up some work for Gai-sensei. In the meantime, we just wanted to check in."

"Okay then," Inuzuka said. "You've checked in. I'll sit on him about that social studies." With that, he got up and left.

Kakashi and Iruka exchanged frowns after he left. "He seem a little defensive?"

"A little?" Iruka said. "I thought he was going to yell at me."

"I don't like this."

"Neither do I. But is there anything we can do?"

Kakashi frowned. "Not really." But Kakashi would put his ear to the ground next period to see what he could dig up. It wasn't long after that that the bell rang, and Iruka rushed to F period and Kakashi strolled after him at a much slower pace. He wandered into his class to see everyone working in their literary groups, just like he wanted. Iruka took his cue and took the odd numbered teams to his room. Before sitting down, Kakashi noted that Ino, despite the twenty degree weather, was still in a short denim skirt with no stockings and a form fitting shirt with a deep V-neck. He sighed through his nose but said nothing.

He turned his ears to Team 8. It was Kiba's first day back, and he looked horrible. The boy looked as if he hadn't eaten in a week, and his clothes were decidedly unwashed. Kakashi could smell dogs and mud, which about looked like what the stains were made of.

"Y-You look terrible," Hinata said softly, her flushed face looking down. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I said that in science, didn't I?" Kiba growled.

"You don't _look_ fine," Shino observed. "Did you eat at all?"

"Of course I did," Kiba muttered, flipping a page in his book and taking a few lines of notes. "Dad brought home dinner every night."

"Yes, but what about the rest of the day?" Shino pressed.

"I was too busy then. I was putting in hours at the kennel; so long as I was out of school I was going to make the most of it and get a few dollars in for the bills. We got a double bill on utilities over the weekend."

"Let me get this straight," Shino said, "You only ate once a day?"

"What? You make it sound bad or something. I'm sure half the girls in this school only eat once a day, isn't that right, Hinata?"

The girl flushed at the sudden attention and pushed her index fingers together. "Oh, uh, I wouldn't know... about things like that... uhm..."

"So us bringing food over, snacks and water, and your constant refusal to take any of it - what was that? Pride?"

"I'm not taking any friggin' charity," Kiba snarled.

"Y-You should have taken the food," Hinata whispered. "It's not healthy to go without food."

"I do well enough in school," Kiba said. "Breakfast and lunch and stuff. And it's not like I'm going to get in another fight or something, anyway, so why are we still talking about this?" The boy furiously turned the page in his packet and started working on the next question. "What's ex... ex... exag...?"

"Exaggeration," Hinata said finally, "It means to make things out of proportion. Like..." she froze for a minute before saying, "like you saying you're perfectly fine. That's an exaggeration."

Kakashi quickly covered his snort with a cough. Go Hinata! He was_ sorely_ tempted to give her an A for the assignment _just_ for that comment - even if it had nothing to do with the packet he'd assigned. She was really starting to gain confidence if she was comfortable with making a comment like that to her teammates. Some things happen at a slower pace, but it was nice to see that at least one team was starting to show fruit.

That thought made him throw his gaze at Team 10. Chouji was absent, for the third time this week. Shikamaru and Ino were next to each other but not working together. The boy was again staring out the window. Kakashi took the opportunity to throw a crumpled piece of paper and toss it at his head. Shikamaru tossed an annoyed glance before getting to work. Kakashi took a good look at Ino and her skirt and then blinked.

"Okay," he said in an attention getting voice, "I'm going to say this as delicately as I can. I'm even going to turn around so that nobody is embarrassed." The Scarecrow bravely put his back to a class full of twelve year olds. "If you are wearing a skirt," he said, "I strongly recommend crossing your legs." He counted a full fifteen seconds, listening to the nervous giggles and picturing the curious glances under the desks. Turning back around, he saw that several girls outside of Ino had crossed their legs. Good.

"You're a pervert, sensei, if you're trying to look up a girls skirt!" Ino accused.

"Let me pose a question, then. Is it a guy's fault for staring? Or the girls fault for having herself on display by not crossing her legs?"

"The guy's for staring, duh!"

"Then why on earth would you invite them to stare?" Kakashi countered, and went back to his chair. He glared at the class before they finally got back to work.

This wasn't turning out to be a good week, he decided. The PPTs were crap, the girls were edging their way towards a social war, Hyuga tried to get him fired, and Ino was walking a path right to sexual favors before she even realized that was where she was going. There were the highlights of Hinata and the seventh grade bank account, but he was beginning to foresee problems in the near and distant future.

He hoped he was wrong.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** (dodges raving Ino fans) We did say that her character went through the most incarnations, right? It's necessary, we believe, for her character to go through this, because it's a "topic" that needs to be dealt with. We could write an entire fic on this particular arc, but we deliberately toned it down to what you're going to see. Besides, the bleak outlooks that Kakashi and his team have aren't necessarily what will happen to Ino. There, on occasion, _can_ be girls who start the outrageous dress/flirting and can keep their virginity in tact. Ino's story isn't over by a longshot.

Otherwise, this was a plate-spinner, making sure you have eyes on the right students.

**Simply Manialoll**: Yes, Sakura's haircut did fit in rather nicely. We weren't really planning it, it was just something that happened on the pages and worked out perfectly. And yes, movies glorify food-fights as a few minutes of unmitigated freedom. This ignores sitting in dirty, sticky clothes for the remainder of the day. We're glad to hear you want to be a teacher. What grade level/subject? And be prepared for some of the more serious stuff that teachers are going to deal with, we'll be touching some of it in passing over the course of this fic. Look out for Asuma and Gai.

**Narutard Teacher**: Heh. You teach everything but math and we teach math. We could make a middle school team, the three of us. . Glad you enjoyed the food fight and also glad you've never had to break one up. I (Mirror) did once. Not fun. My twenty-minute lunch was cut to ten because we were called in to stop the fighting. I didn't really have a lunch that day. wince There are days when I desperately hope that the problems we have in America are limited to America. I'm sorry that these things happen in the Canadian school system as well. Wonder what Quebec is doing right?

**Yaoi fan 4 life**: Yes, last chapter was lighter. Not everything can be doom and gloom, you do need high points from time to time. Kakashi will have quite a few, but they're going to be spread out with all the drama of the student body garnering his attention. We, too, like Kakashi's meddlesome streak with Team 7 and others. He's cool like that.

**Ryuu-Chan**: There are threads from the first chapter that haven't even been touched yet. But we're glad that you're noticing how some of them are weaving. It means we must be doing something right. Thanks.

**Pairingwarfreak**: Yes, we're kinda glad we're getting reviews now. We don't write stories for reviews, but we're _always_ curious as to how people take our work. We tend to think of something that we write of as cool and want to share. Whether people read it or not is their choice, but since starting our account here, we're getting more and more curious as to what people think. If we're reading between the lines correctly, most of our reviewers are a little Canadian cluster, but we could be wrong. We're glad people can enjoy. This story is great therapy for us as well as being edutainment for the masses.

**I:heart:Naruto:fanfiction**: Glad you enjoy. Like we sid to Simply Manialoll, Sakura's haircut just ended up working. Funny, that.

**InoShikaChou**: wince Sorry you've had to break up fights. That's never fun, no matter who you are. Don't worry about Ino in this chapter. She'll turn around...eventually... As far as preferences, we like Naruto with Hinata, and if you squint, you'll see them get closer over the course of the fic. As with all couples, read between the lines. You'll see what you want to see. As always, we're glad you're having fun.


	16. Week 15

**December: Week Fifteen**

* * *

Kakashi shuffled into school Monday morning, a tired gate in his step. The weekend had hardly been what he'd wanted. The main problem had been his inability to log into the server and input grades. Part of his persona at school as laidback and lazy was his constant reading. In order to maintain that, he'd often taken his grading home to take care of it there, log in, list, and then curl around his book or go visit the memorial. Since, for whatever reason, the server was down, Kakashi now had to put grades in that morning, before Chouji's PPT during C. To make matters even better, Kakashi had to wake up even _earlier_ this morning, to shovel his driveway of the two inches of snow. The streets were clear and school wasn't going to be delayed (to the student's chagrin, he was certain), but if Kakashi wanted any hope of actually getting in and out of his house, he needed to shovel his damn hill. 

So, already tired and sore, the Scarecrow came in later than usual to homeroom. He was moderately surprised to see Iruka wasn't in yet either, but the cold usually made his injuries from the car accident ache. It wasn't unusual to see the special education teacher miss school after the first snow. Still, if Iruka wasn't here, the PPT would most likely be rescheduled. However, as much as Kakashi would like C period free to get those grades in, the Akimachi's needed the attention more so.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?"

Looking up, moderately surprised, the English teacher saw Sakura looking at him with concern. Was he really slipping so much that the students could pick up on his moods?

"Maa," he drawled. "I had to dig out this morning."

Sakura frowned, then smiled. "Don't forget about Student Council this afternoon," she chirped. "We have a lot to plan out for after Christmas."

Trust Haruno Sakura to be thinking so far ahead. She'd be a great doctor someday. He shrugged, smirking. "If I don't make it, I'm sure you'll take care of everything," he replied.

"Sensei!" she reprimanded him, also smiling.

"Well, I do have work to do." And how.

She scoffed. "You're too lazy to get any work done."

"Sakura, Sakura. You don't know half of what a teacher does. There's much more to it than you could even imagine."

"Yeah. Sure."

Smiling, Kakashi went over to his desk and prepared to get some grades entered. Gaara was absent again, he noted sadly. The first two periods went by fairly well. Since Kakashi needed computer time, he gave both classes reading based assignments, and the teams would have no trouble asking each other quietly for help. He'd had them well trained.

Students seemed surprised to see him busy at his computer, and he could already hear some of the rumors growing. He was hacking into the CIA computers to ensure that they still listed him as retired; he was in the middle of writing a sequel to the novel he loved to read so much; he was writing love letters to Kurenai-sensei (that made him chuckle); he was writing a report to the Board of Education to get Ebisu-sensei fired (really, it should be Orochimaru that was fired, but anyway); the list went on and on. Student creativity never ceased to amuse him.

His prep finally arrived and Kakashi wandered across the hall to find Iruka standing stiffly.

"I wasn't sure you'd come in this morning when I opened my door and saw the snow."

The teacher grunted. "I'm not so sure I should be here either, but I've got too much to do. At least this time you have a good reason to be late. Me."

Kakashi snorted as the special education teacher walked over with a slight limp.

"Will you be alright?"

"The longer I'm on it the better, but I had to sit with Naruto, who came in last period, he was getting worked up over his computer grade and I had to sit on my ass by his computer for an hour. Now the PPT. I swear; I should just give up."

The Scarecrow frowned. Iruka was known to complain, especially during times when his joints ached; students got to know real quickly not to mess with him when he was tender. However, something in Iruka's voice was more than his usual complaints.

"Iruka?" he asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. My sister called over the weekend. My mother's getting worse."

Kakashi nodded. Iruka's father had died when he was young and his mother was also in the same car accident that had left Iruka scarred. However, she wasn't doing as well, and it seemed, she was finally starting to take a turn for the worse. No doubt, the prospect of losing another parent was weighing heavily on Iruka, especially with his own injuries hindering him so much at the moment.

"Should I order you to sleep with me again?" Kakashi asked as he ambled and Iruka shuffled down the hall.

The special education teacher let out a sharp bark of laughter. "No, I'll be fine."

Together they entered the conference room. "Yo," Kakashi raised his hand and waved. "Sorry we're late."

"It's quite alright," Jiraiya chuckled. "The Akimachi's aren't here yet."

"Oh?"

"They just called. Their car broke down and they have to use their other car, which has some trouble starting. They'll be here in about ten minutes."

They all sat down, and chatted about little things. Jiraiya offered condolences on Iruka's mother and talked about various students they were concerned about. Ebisu came in and sat down, discussing Gaara's absence and Kankuro's ISS the following two days for finally being sniffed out in starting the food fight over a week ago.

Ten minutes on the dot, both of Chouji's parents came in, giving Kakashi a pleasant surprise. Normally only one parent could come in between work to discuss how their child was doing, but to see both was definitely a pleasant surprise. Another surprise was that Asuma hurried in, soon afterwards. Well, Kakashi grumbled to himself, he wasn't the latest to the meeting. Damn.

"Hello," Ebisu greeted. The sign-in sheet had already been passed around, so introductions were made.

"I realize," Chouji's mother started, "that this is just a 'checking in' meeting, but I have some concerns. I was online this morning to check my son's grades, and I'm very concerned at how abysmal they are." The father nodded.

"I also have some concerns," Kakashi replied. "Since we all are concerned about Chouji, why don't we just get them all in the open and start addressing them. His grades are a concern yes, but I'm worried at how much school he's missing. Three days last week, added to all of his accumulated absences this month, makes me concerned. At this rate, he'll reach eighteen unexcused absences by the end of third quarter, and then he loses credit."

"My worries," Iruka took his turn, "is Chouji's inconsistent work ethic. At the beginning of the year, he was putting his best foot forward in all his classes, but lately, when he's here, he tends to zone out a lot more."

Asuma nodded beside Iruka, hand reaching for a cigarette that wasn't there. "I can tell you why his grades have turned south in my class. It matches up with what Iruka calls an inconsistent work ethic. The work that he turns in tends to be half done, if that. He's not showing work, lending me to think that he's just writing down numbers randomly. I was talking with Gai-sensei and Kurenai-sensei before I came down, and they mentioned the same thing."

Both of Chouji's parents blinked, looked at each other, and blinked again.

"To your first concern," Chouji's father leaned forward and Kakashi could see where the boy got his figure, "I don't understand. I see Chouji on the bus every morning. He went in every day last week. My wife here is there when he gets off the bus. He didn't miss any school last week."

Ebisu wrote all this down, as did Iruka. "I suggest, then, that you start driving him to school if you can and watching him enter the building. If you wish, you can call my office each morning, letting me know that he is in, or check in with me. That way, if his homeroom teacher--" he glanced at the team.

"Kurenai-sensei," Kakashi supplied.

"--finds him missing, we can go about the procedures for skipping class. Starting with office detentions, and working our way up to ISS and Saturday detentions if needs be."

Both parents nodded. "I insist, on that," the father agreed. "In fact, since we know he skipped three days of school last week, I'd like you to begin on that right now. We don't want our son to think he has any leeway in this. He _needs_ his education."

The mother nodded as again. "Such behavior is completely unacceptable. The grades still concern me, though. I know that he's been doing his homework, he doesn't get his after-school snack until he does, but I think I'm going to start checking on his work before hand." She winced. "My husband works during they day and I have the night shift at the hospital. There's always someone home in case he's home sick, etc. I'm going to have to wake up earlier."

Asuma nodded in sympathy. "I understand that this will be an inconvenience. But until we can figure out why his behavior has started to change, all of us are going to have to start coming down hard on him. We want Chouji to be the best that he can be, and in order to do that, we're going to have to start enforcing some more stringent rules."

"For starters," Iruka offered, "he has often worked with another student who's exceptionally bright. I think I'm going to encourage that teamwork more during resource, help him get help, as it were."

The math teacher nodded. "So they'll probably end up with me during SSR, but I can work with him. No worries."

The Akimachi nodded again. "If it's alright," the mother started, "I think I want to hear from his teachers everyday. Chouji's always been truthful, but if he really is changing so much, he may not tell us everything."

Everyone at the conference table nodded, and Kakashi noted Iruka's suppressed wince at the extra paperwork it would involve. Still, the Scarecrow was pleasantly pleased with the PPT. Chouji's parents were being supportive and willing to work with the faculty, assuming they'd keep up what they promised. It was just another "wait and see" situation.

With that the PPT out of the way, Kakashi walked with Asuma and Iruka back to their corner of the building. The special education teacher was still stiff and limping, but with his coworkers on either side offering support if he needed it. Kakashi brought up a preview of what he'd be mentioning during Team Time, particularly what had been brought up during his recent team-leaders meeting. The idiot of a union leader was going too far, and the team leaders were discussing possibilities on how to switch him out with someone else. The main problem was that nobody wanted the job.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!!"

That could only be an energetic, ADHD, blond member of a certain Team 7.

"What?" Iruka barked. Naruto backed away, his hands raised in front of his face, no doubt a habit picked up from his time in so many foster homes. Sighing, the special education teacher tried again. "What is it, Naruto?"

"I've been looking for you," the blond replied. "I wanted to ask you if I could be in Kakashi-sensei's room for Resource today. Thanks to last period, I'm all caught up, and I don't have any outstanding assignments, so..."

Asuma turned his head, a snort escaping before a chuckle followed.

The Scarecrow smiled down, "I'd be happy to have you in my SSR as long as you are reading. Otherwise, you go back across the hall to Iruka-sensei."

The blond snapped to attention with a smart salute. "Don't worry Kakash-sensei. I won't let you down. You won't hear a peep out of me the whole period."

"Sounds good," Iruka added, reaching down to rub his knee. "Do you have a book to read?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed as Asuma nodded and went on ahead to his room.

Kakashi raised a hidden eyebrow. Naruto never struck him as the reading type. More likely to look something up in a magazine or online, rather than bring in a book to read, but he didn't mind being pleasantly surprised.

"Fine, Naruto," Iruka nodded. "But I need to see you on a few things before you head over, alright?"

"You got it, Iruka-sensei!" So the special education teacher and the blond went around to Iruka's room as Kakashi wandered into Kurenai's room. He knew what he was going to get his team for Christmas, but he needed a little refining for the new member, so he chatted with her for a few minutes. His gifts for the other English teachers, the office staff, etc, would be more generic like candy or pencils or such. It varied from year to year, and Christmas itself was only a little over a week away.

He brightened when Kurenai let it drop what he was looking for without even realizing it, so he ambled over to his room with a smile on his face. His students were supposed to be reading quietly when he entered, he'd spent most of September training them to do so. (Granted, there were several other students who just held a book open and stared at it, no matter how much prodding he did to find the genre they'd enjoy reading...) Instead, he found several students huddled over by his desk. There was a lot of chatter, but it didn't sound dangerous or like rumors. There were merely questions being fired at one person. Naruto.

"What was the storyline again?"

"How much was it?"

"Where do you get this?"

"Are there others like this?"

Curiosity thoroughly aroused, Kakashi meandered over to his desk and sat down.

"Now," he said, drawing their focus to him. "Why isn't everyone reading?"

That was enough to get the students scrambling for their seats, digging out their books or magazines, and back to what they were supposed to be doing. Kakashi couldn't help but smile to himself. It was nice to be able to just ask a question and send the students scurrying. Turning to Team 7, who were in their usual seats during class, he readdressed his question. "Might I inquire as to what happened?"

"Everyone wanted to know more about my book," Naruto replied simply.

"Oh?"

"He's reading a comic," Sasuke snorted. "A black and white comic."

"It's called _manga_, teme!"

As the two happily degrading into bickering, Sakura took over the explanation. "When Naruto pulled out his 'book', Sasuke scoffed at him until Naruto started explaining the plot. Next thing we knew, everyone was around us asking about it."

Kakashi nodded. He'd been noting more and more shelf space being devoted to _manga_ in the bookstores, and he'd been hearing the rumblings of an anime/manga culture starting to grow. Maybe there_ was_ a way to get students interested in reading. "Alright then. Get back to reading."

"Yes, sensei," Team 7 droned.

* * *

The following morning, Kakashi was wincing at his utterly empty wallet. After SSR the previous day, he'd put his ear to the ground again and learned that there was a growing population in the school calling themselves "_otaku_", who could read three or four books in an afternoon of their _manga_. Finally sensing a way to get students to read (or at least more of them), he'd emptied out a good chunk of his wallet and bank account and came in with a large box filled with various _manga_ series that were appropriate for seventh grade. Of course, finding appropriate reading material was difficult, because there _couldn't_ be nudity. Still, he'd found a plethora of choices to start putting into his shelves for students to borrow and read. He had been waiting to see what the reaction during SSR would be, but there was an instantaneous jolt from homeroom on through. Students kept wandering or stalking over to his desk asking what those new "comics" were and if they were available for them to borrow. He'd just grin and say, "I need to label and shelve them. Give me a few days." But the interest was a definite plus. 

So it was that when C period finally rolled around, he was pulling out books, making sure his name and room number was listed along the side, and pulling off price tags. He had everything he needed for the rest of the classes, so he was basically free to set up these new_ manga_ books. This was where Jiraiya found him when he wandered in, his bushy white hair back in a long pony tail, his jeans rumpled and wrinkled, and his flip-flops flicking as he walked over to a desk to sit down.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, lazily raising a hand in an attempted wave before going back to labeling, removing tags, and shelving. "What brings you here?"

"The grapevine is reaching me on a few things, and when the grapevine about teachers reaches me, I usually decide to sniff out if it's true or not," Jiraiya drawled, leaning back and putting his feet up on the desk.

"Given that you've come to me, I assume the grapevine is about my eccentric self." Kakashi grinned, shelving another book. "So, who did I piss off with my eccentricities this time?"

Jiraiya said nothing, and just looked at Kakashi. The old guidance counselor had known the English teacher since he was a little boy, between the school system and being an old friend of the Yellow Flash's. Kakashi himself hadn't really gotten to know Jiraiya until he retired from the army, but the guidance counselor was probably the only person alive that knew everything about Kakashi's life.

"It's not so much that you irked someone."

"Oh?"

"You were noticeably forlorn on Veteran's Day, you missed a professional day as a result; you've been insulting parents, you completely zoned out in the Old Man's office, do I need to continue?"

Kakashi stopped, a book halfway on the shelf. "So Gai and Iruka both ratted me out?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Please. You're still running circles around Iruka, he can't figure you out yet. Gai's your best friend, but he won't pry unless absolutely necessary or after school hours. Kurenai doesn't know you at all yet and Asuma's been too burned by previous teachers to try and pry into your business. None of them would 'rat you out'. This is just the grapevine hitting my office."

The Scarecrow slumped. "You told me in sixth grade that your job as a guidance counselor doesn't end when the student leaves the middle school." He took the few steps to the couch and got comfortable. "So, what are you going to psychoanalyze out of me now?"

"Please, Freud's perversions aren't of any use here. You want to talk porn, you can come to my office late after school." The Perverted Toad Sage crossed his arms. "Anywhere particular you want to start, or should I start asking questions?"

"I don't see myself as particularly bothered," Kakashi drawled back. "Where do you want to begin?"

"Why not the similarities between one foster by name of Yondaime. I noticed that he kinda resembles your foster dad, the Yellow Flash."

"Kinda?" the Scarecrow snorted.

"Well, they do look like twins."

"Looks are bad enough," Kakashi muttered. "Mannerisms are just freaky."

"Like what?" Jiraiya asked.

Sighing, he looked up to the ceiling tiles. He'd worked with Jiraiya long enough to know that any attempt to wiggle out of this highly uncomfortable conversation would be blocked and thrown back at him. When Jiraiya chose to get to the bottom of something... or more aptly some_one_ in this case... he couldn't be diverted. That didn't make it any easier for Kakashi to talk about any of the things that were probably on the guidance counselor's to-do list.

"Well?" Jiraiya prompted.

Kakashi threw a glare. "Name a mannerism. Laughter. Ruffling hair. Rough but gentle speech pattern. Easy-going. Wording. You name it." _It's like he came back from the dead._

"Those mannerisms seem to be helping Naruto out quite a bit."

Good, easier ground to talk about. "Yes, Naruto's been improving quite a bit. He's been keeping up with his schoolwork, a fantastic outcome given how often he missed assignments previous years from the sounds of things. Of course, that might be Sasuke and Sakura, but I don't think they're all of it. While Naruto's always been outspoken, he will only occasionally go into silly talk in class and play class clown. He's become far more likely to be an active participant in discussions and when you see him and the rest of Team 7 debate with the rest of the class, it's fascinating to watch. If one of them slacks in the point they're trying to make, one of the others picks up and flies."

"It reminds me of how you slowly loosened up in school."

"Ah, but Naruto and I are completely different."

"Granted," Jiraiya smiled. "As long as you know that."

There was a pause and Kakashi vaguely felt like he'd somehow passed. What he'd passed, he wasn't sure, but there was a definite twinkle in Jiraiya's eye. He frowned. He never could figure out the Perverted Toad Sage.

"Ah yes, Team 7. Speaking of them, how's Sasuke doing?"

"Isn't he Orochimaru's case?"

"So?"

To that, the Scarecrow had to grin. Jiraiya never did care what was his or wasn't, the old thief. "He's safe. From what I've been picking up, he spends as much time as he can with Sakura and Naruto. I doubt he's fitting in well with his foster parent Kabuto, but he's still healing and thriving. He mentioned that he'll be getting a smaller cast shortly before Christmas, and that it should be completely off in January. He hasn't seen his brother at all as far as I know, but I think any confrontation with Itachi would be obvious in his behavior." Kakashi frowned. "His position isn't ideal. If he's not comfortable in his current home, I'd rather him somewhere else, but he's safe and healing. On occasion, he'll even show that he's happy. That's all I can do for him. For now."

"Sasuke has come in to see me a few times," Jiraiya commented. "Mostly right after you left school to find him in the hospital."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"While he's hardly the talkative type, he's made a few things clear." He smiled. "He's very respectful of you. He doesn't just refer to you as Kakashi-sensei, there's an almost reverence in his voice when I get him to talk about you. I doubt anyone else would pick up on it, but I _am_ the Toad Sage."

The English teacher snorted. Just as Kakashi was known for knowing things that no other teacher could uncover from his looking underneath the underneath, Jiraiya was known for observation as well (perverse as some of it may be...). It was part of what made him a good guidance counselor, the fact that the Toad Sage could pick up on something subtle and then question a student on it. Where Kakashi tended to come across as omnipotent, Jiraiya was known as perceptive.

"That boy admires you, Kakashi, he admires your knowledge, your intelligence, your control of the classroom without looking like you're in control. He will _never_ admit it, but he looks up to you. So does Naruto. Naruto thinks you're his savior because you gave him the two most important people in his life. While I haven't talked to Sakura, I'm sure she has some level of awe about you as well."

"Are you here to praise me or pick me apart?"

"Neither," Jiraiya drawled in a mimic of Kakashi. "I'm just commenting on how well you've been keeping your promise to Obito."

All at once, Kakashi's eye stung, and he put his hand over his_ hitae-ate_. Being reminded of the Yellow Flash wasn't enough, now Jiraiya had brought up Obito and all the memories that went along with it. Obito dragging him from a burning car-turned-bomb; Kakashi shoving Obito out of the way of enemy fire; the two of them helping deliver food and medical supplies to hospitals. It always came back up. Even after all these years. Years of remembering his promise. Years of thinking of Obito every day to _keep_ that promise. Years of trying to ensure that students didn't lose everything like he'd lost everything.

"Of course," he rasped.

"You deliberately put yourself through your worst and harshest memories with the man. As he lay dying in your arms, he extracted a promise from you." Jiraiya looked long and hard at the English teacher. "Don't you think that's too much of a burden? Doesn't that weighty promise keep you from being happy?"

Kakashi glared.

"I promised. I will never forget that promise, nor will I ignore it. I am making a difference in these kids' lives. I'm making _them_ happy, and that makes _me_ happy. Yes, the promise gets heavy from time to time, but all I need to see is someone like Sasuke to relax around his team to know that the weight is worth it."

Jiraiya grinned and Kakashi once more felt like he'd just passed a test of some sort. He knew where all this was going. The old guidance counselor was going to question him on all his sore points and test him. To see if Kakashi really was "losing it" or not.

"If you say so," Jiraiya drawled. "But I understand that Hyuga Hinata's father is giving you trouble."

Against his will, Kakashi grimaced. If anything from the grapevine really did reach Jiraiya, it was most likely from Sandaime, he realized. He really should control himself better. The old man didn't need to worry so much as to send Jiraiya after him. He could control himself. If Kakashi was ever so bad off, he would take a day off and spend it at the memorial, sorting through his memories, reminding himself why he did everything. He didn't need Jiraiya to do it for him.

But once the guidance counselor got started, only Sandaime could stop him.

"You already know why," he drawled back. "The Old Man must have mentioned how he treats Hinata." He paused. "And the other reason."

"Sakumo?"

He said nothing, looking once more to the ceiling tiles.

"Come now, your father was a very strict taskmaster, just like Hyuga is. You turned out just fine, I'm sure Hinata will as well."

Glare. "Hinata isn't me. She will _not_ be fine the way things are. Parents should put their children first, not live through them. Parents should let their children reach their own potential, not force their way on them. Nothing good can come if they don't."

Jiraiya nodded and Kakashi only barely felt like he'd passed that test. No doubt, Jiraiya would poke him about the issue later in the year, but not now. He could be grateful for now, at least, that the matter of Sakumo would be dropped. It wasn't a topic that he delved into normally, and to have Hyuga unknowingly rip it up to the surface was... disconcerting to say the least. He'd find a way to deal with it, he always did.

"Well, with all these memories floating up for you this year, I would have thought Rin would show up at some point."

Kakashi stood up, rigid.

"Out. Now." Get him out of here and start to do_ something_ to stop the flashes of images coming to his mind. He couldn't think of her here at school. Not with his SSR starting in another ten minutes. He needed _normalcy_ and that meant he couldn't think of her.

Jiraiya tried to prod at the salted wound, but Kakashi all but physically threw him out of his room, went back to his desk, pulled out his beloved book, opened to a chapter the he adored, and started reading, willing the memories that were stirred to settle back into the darkness.

* * *

Naturally, Kakashi was late for Team Time, but he didn't offer up any excuses, already feeling exhausted from fighting off memories better left buried. He functioned during the meeting, but that was all. Together, they went through the necessary preparations and the usual day-to-day necessities, especially with Christmas right around the corner. The previous Team Leader meeting had the team leaders discussing what to do about their predicament with the representative of the union, and had decided that they should discuss it with their teams first and then figure out a plan of attack. The English teacher collected some fantastic ideas from his team about what to do with their bastard of a union rep that he would pass on at his next Team Leader meeting. As usual, however, nobody really wanted the extra work the job of union rep would bring, which made all ideas fall slightly apart, but for now Kakashi let the creativity of his team act as a balm for his emotional aches and pains that Jiraiya had brought up. 

Things were going quite well actually, boosting Kakashi and letting him bring his fragmented self back together more solidly, until Asuma got a call. It appeared that Takamura had been sent to Ebisu and the boy refused to talk without Iruka-sensei there. The special education teacher sighed, rubbed his eyes, and packed up his stuff. Seeing how little time was left, the meeting was basically "adjourned" and Iruka left. Kakashi lingered, making small talk with Asuma as another much-needed act of normalcy, finding out what the math teacher thought of Kurenai and how she was doing, seeing as how he was next door.

It was amazing how just little doses of "normal" could be so soothing.

As Asuma's F period started to filter in, Kakashi took his cue to go back around the corner to his room and probably get class going.

He was surprised, however, when he saw a three-way bitch argument occurring right on his doorstep between Temari, Ino, and Sakura.

"Forehead!"

"Billboard-brow!"

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted back. "I haven't done anything to either of you, so back off!"

"You're on Sasuke's team!"

"You prissy know-it-all."

"You _assholes_!" the female Team 7 member yelled. "I didn't start this, you did!"

"You wh--"

Kakashi stared at the three of them and frowned, his looming presence towering over them radiating disproval. Sakura looked away, Ino glared at him, and Temari glanced around, looking moderately embarrassed.

Still looking down at them, Kakashi reached over, unlocked his door, and let the sea of students sweep forward. The three girls remained at the door, understanding that he needed to talk to them. From down the hall, Sasuke and Naruto were seen rushing for class, their previous teacher no doubt keeping them behind for something. Both glanced curiously at the unusual cluster at the door before Sasuke handed a pass over to Kakashi and went in to start the warm-up. Kakashi shut the door.

"I'm not even going to bother trying to sort out what happened here. It will just result in the three of you arguing again." He glared down at all three of them. Sakura was still looking away, finding a spot on the floor fascinating. Temari looked away as well, though she looked more disappointed at being caught, and Ino held his glare. He raised an eyebrow at her and she had the sense to look away.

"Sakura, this is your first and only warning in regards to language. If I hear you swearing again today, you'll have a detention."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ino, you're letting a petty rivalry interfere with your school work."

"I get good grades!"

"No, you're not. You only just barely got a B here last quarter, because you are awful at teamwork. If this keeps going, you're grade will suffer even more. Stop being fixated on who's with whom and worry about yourself."

She scoffed. "Yes, Scarecrow-sensei."

"Sarcasm isn't helping you. Go see Ebisu-sensei, or stay here and get work done."

Ino glared, but remained.

"Temari, I heard you with Kankuro last week."

The blond paled, her affronted look dissolving into mild panic.

"This is your one warning. Keep doing what you're doing, and you'll end up dealing with me. Ino can attest that dealing with me is no fun."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good, now the three of you get in and get to work." Once they were all inside, Kakashi sighed. Today was just getting longer and longer.

* * *

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Kakashi was mildly disappointed. Students could be a very good distraction, since they required full attention at all times, and Kakashi felt that he needed a few more periods before he could fully consider himself back to his normal lazy self. Still, the last two periods had been great to pry him out of the hole Jiraiya had thrown him in and re-fuse his broken pieces back into the semblance of a human being. Iruka had thrown some concerned looks his way during the last two periods, but all in all, the Scarecrow felt much better than he had when SSR started. 

Pulling a random _manga_ out of the box that he still hadn't emptied onto his shelves, he allowed himself a moment to stretch out on the couch and just read. He let the book take him away to a different world, rather than just absorb words like he did during the school day. Eventually, the automatic lights flickered off, but the lamp on Kakashi's desk provided enough illumination to read. He was like that for almost an hour when a head poked into his room.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm?" He finished the page he was on and lazily looked over to the door, far too comfortable to move. Entering his room and letting the harsh fluorescent lights turn on, was Sasuke and Naruto. Without Sakura. Tension eased its way back into Kakashi's form. He sat up, beckoning them in. "Well this is a surprise. What can I do for you?"

Naruto stepped forward. "What happened today? You know, before class started? Before we got there?"

Kakashi frowned. "In regards to what?"

"Well--"

"Sakura's too quiet," Sasuke bit out.

That argument affected her. And she wasn't sharing with them. They'd gone through enough harshness in their lives that she didn't want to be a burden. She stated as much when she'd gotten heir hair cut. So she was considering today's event her problem and was going to handle it on her own.

Kakashi sighed. She needed to learn that she could lean on the others just as she let them lean on her. Sakura also needed to learn to stick up for herself, which wouldn't happen with Naruto and Sasuke undoubtedly intervening on her behalf if they knew. To tell them or not? Time would probably tell. For now it was Sakura's choice.

"Naruto, have you ever known me to go blabbing to other students what sort of punishment or warnings I give you?"

"Well, no, but--"

"Sasuke, did I talk non stop about what happened with every person I came across?"

"No, but--"

"So why should I tell either of you what happened today?"

"But!"

"No," Kakashi said more firmly. "It's her choice. The two of you were hardly open when you all got together as a team. It took work for the two of you to share your problems with anyone. What Sakura went through today was something that _she_ went through. Just as it was your choice to talk or not, it's hers." He looked down at them and raised an eyebrow. "She's been very open, I imagine. So the fact that she's keeping something to herself is striking you as strange. You can't go forcing it out of her, nor can you go asking around for it, it's a breach of her wishes. She'll come to you when she's ready."

"But how long will that take?" Naruto whined.

"That's up to her."

"Hn."

Clearly not pleased, the two boys skulked out of his room. Kakashi knew that the two of them understood what he was saying, otherwise they'd be forcing their point more thoroughly. Life, sometimes, was just a bitch.

* * *

Friday, late for Team Time, Kakashi offered a tale of looking for a simple phone number. It started when he realized that the coveted set of numbers that he kept in a drawer at his desk was no longer valid, meaning that the treasured item had been through the old switcheroo. Thus began an Indiana Jones style adventure, racing from evil snake guidance counselors, hunting through the incomprehensible maze of computer files, and finally reaching the Holy Shizune, who delivered the much valued numbers before Kakashi realized that he wouldn't have time to call the parent because he had to come up to team. 

Kurenai laughed. "I love your stories," she muttered through her mirth.

Flipping a page in his book, Kakashi got down to business. "Before we get to the mundane, I have a question. Has anyone else noted Ino leaving at about the same time every period?"

"I have noticed that Hitoshi leaves my room every day," Asuma stated flatly, getting up and going over to his sign in sheet. He flipped back through the pages. "Yes, Ino always leaves the same time B period."

"B period?" Kurenai asked. "What time?"

He stated the time. "Why?"

Frowning, she replied, "Because that's the time Kankuro usually leaves."

"Gai?" Kakashi asked. "Could you please get all our sign in sheets? Quickly?"

"HA! My Eternal Rival, I will be back in less than thirty seconds!" He slammed his watch down on Asuma's desk. "Time me!" he raced off.

"Speaking of Hitoshi," Kakashi redirected, "He's also leaving my room everyday during the last five minutes." After all, they knew he wouldn't allow anyone out before hand, barring the nurse, which he always checked up on.

"I'm always in different classes, I wouldn't notice," Iruka replied.

"I think we have some students bending the rules," Asuma growled. He sat up, "Wait, aren't Ino and Kankuro currently going out?"

"Oh no," Kurenai lamented. "Don't tell me that those two have scheduled their bathroom breaks so that they can make out..."

"If she is, she's going to get a tongue lashing from me that will make her think that calculus is as easy as elementary math," Asuma growled. "I'm getting seriously sick of her dating a different guy every week. She doesn't realize what she's doing, and I'm about ready to give her a reality check. If she doesn't take it from me, her parents might be able to knock some sense into her."

"I have returned!" Gai exclaimed, several clipboards in his hand.

Asuma glanced at the watch, before smirking. "Thirty-one seconds."

"So! I must train further in order to surpass our lazy leader Kakashi."

"Whatever," Kakashi mumbled, reaching over to get his sign out sheets. Pulling a highlighter out, he started marking off the times of Hitoshi, Ino, and Kankuro left his class. Unsurprisingly, given he only let one student out at a time, Ino and Kakuro didn't have a set time, unless one of their teams was taken to Iruka's room.

Together, the five of them compared times and started to notice a very definitive pattern. Hitoshi left every single class to go to the bathroom, and took an inordinate amount of time in returning. Granted, he never recorded his return time, that deduction was based on memories of him leaving and taking a while to come back. And, to Asuma's distinct displeasure, Kankuro and Ino _were_ scheduling their bathroom breaks at the same time.

Kakashi grinned blithely. "Iruka? Take one of their teams. Let them out and we'll find out next period." That dealt with, they moved back to the mundane.

When F period rolled around, Iruka took Ino's team along with four others to his room across the hall. Without fail, Kakashi noticed Ino hanging out by his door during the last five minutes of class. Unsurprisingly, Kankuro wandered over to his desk to go to the bathroom. Smiling, Kakashi let him go. Waiting a full half a minute, he nodded across the hall and Iruka brought the rest of the students back as Kakashi discreetly followed the two students heading for the bathrooms. They headed in the appropriate direction before steering down the wrong hall.

The Scarecrow watched around the corner as the two went to one of the double doors leading outside. Because of the layout of the school, there were classrooms on either side, but no doors, making the corner very secluded. Glancing around, the two proceeded to lock lips, Kankuro's hands on Ino's behind.

That was enough.

"Yo," he greeted, walking around the corner and down the hall.

Kankuro groaned and Ino gasped, both separating in no time flat.

"Congratulations. You two are now both on pass restriction. You will be unable to leave any class. Therefore, start preparing yourselves, you won't be able to use the bathrooms unless it's between classes."

"That's not fair!" Ino protested. Kankuro merely snorted and scoffed. Any protests were stopped as the bell rang and Kakashi followed both of them to class, informing Asuma and Gai about his proclamation. Both thoroughly agreed and Kakashi wandered over to Kurenai's room to inform her. She also agreed to enforce his pass restriction. Grinning, Kakashi returned to his room to inform Iruka and get his class working.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Lots of plate spinning; Sakura's arc is starting to build up, and we once again dip into Kakashi's head - which is always fun to do. We hope you like what you've been seeing so far; we're having a blast writing it. By the way, one of us did work at a school where the reading was very low. Once we introduced manga, all of a sudden kids were clamoring around us to borrow the books. It's a good feeling to convert kids into readers. And we_ have_ dealt with scheduled bathroom breaks for inappropriate conduct.

**InoShikaCho**: Glad you liked our hinted couplings and our attempts at realism. As we've said before, we've read many high school fics that doen't seem to understand what actually goes on. It's all an idealised version of bullying and popularity that isn't anywhere close to how things really occur. That's why we hope our fic is somewhat educational. Plus, it can sometimes be really interesting to see something from an outside perspective like Kakashi's. It's so tempting, like with Ino, to dive into her point of view and look at her motivations and reasonings, or to stand with Sasuke as he faces off with Itachi before ending up in the hospital, but by pulling back, we leave more for the reader's imagination.

**Simply Manialoll**: So you're looking at middle school-ish age. When you go college hunting, make sure you know what the requirements are for certification so that you can find the best college available. (Pricing, as always, will play a big part in this.) In our state, you're either certified K-6 or 7-12. If it's 7-12, you need a subject, such as math, computers, etc. In K-6, your certification wil be in elementary education. It may be different where you live, so be sure to look things up.

**I:heart:Naruto:Fanfiction**: We're so happy that you and everyone else are enjoying. .

**Narutard Teacher**: Yes, we've seen Ino's type of story before. We won't divulge much, but a lot of her development will occur with Chouji's arc, actually. But that won't be until...February if I remember correctly. I wonder if anyone will figure out what's up with our plump student. Hmmmmm.

**Pairingwarfreak**: Don't worry about Kakashi and the Hyuuga. They will be facing off again over the course of the year. In one case, rather dramatically when Hinata's arc reaches it's climax. But that's way off in Bloody April. (Any hints in my wording? You tell me... evil grin) And Kiba is also going through something rather major that will arc more after Christmas. So many plates to spin...)

Thank you to all our readers!


	17. Week 16

**December: Week Sixteen**

* * *

Christmas came on a Friday this year, meaning that half-day was Thursday before vacation started. Over the years, Kakashi had trained himself to, on the worst of day, Not Mind the widely loved holiday. His early years of Christmas were of being left alone in the apartment while his father the Great Sakumo would attend functions and get-togethers and parties. His first celebration of the holiday was with Yellow Flash, but they had been together for only a few months and young Kakashi didn't really understand what all the fake pine branches and candles and tinsel and multicolored lights had to do with snow and an ancient fat man in red who lived up north and the celebration of family and forgiveness and some emaciated man on a lopsided plus sign. Yellow Flash had gawked when Kakashi had said that. 

Thus his education in the concept of "Christmas" began. Kakashi, even now, didn't really fully buy into it. It was hard to celebrate family when he didn't really have one, and there wasn't really much to be thankful for, and he knew that he could never be forgiven.

But the idea of it, naive as it was, was nice; and that other people wholeheartedly believed in it made him smile at least on a philosophical level.

Kakashi and the other teachers had decorated their rooms the first week of December to varying degrees. Kakashi's had garland around his whiteboard, and a few winter posters on his back bulletin board, and the occasional ornament hanging by a string from some of his cracked ceiling tiles. It was deemed "sparse" in comparison to the others. The most decorated by far was Iruka; including a small tree he had on his desk, all kinds of Santa posters and cartoons, his door wrapped like a giant present including a gaudy bow, and so on. Kurenai came in a close second - surprising everyone, with Gai trailing in third. Asuma often openly declared "Bah! Humbug," to children, but even he had more decorations than the Scarecrow.

Being the last week before vacation, everyone was giving everyone else presents, cards, candies, etc. Kakashi was no exception. When he drove in that morning, happily sailed passed his room (and heard several exclamations of complaint which he dutifully ignored) and to the main office where the mailroom was. He placed his poorly wrapped gifts in each of his team's mailboxes. This year he'd gotten Gai a book entitled _Even Nice Guys Need Help_, a gag gift if ever there was one. For Iruka, the ever-dutiful special education teacher, he had purchased an English for the Dyslexic book he'd dug up at his regional conference from hell, and for Asuma he bought three giant sudoku puzzle books which the math teacher would no doubt finish before the end of vacation. Kurenai had been a challenge, but the giant hint she'd dropped earlier had scored him a book on makeup and how to apply it on different facial types. Each gift was wrapped in ancient wrapping paper - his third roll since he started teaching, a testament of how few gifts he gave out every year.

For Jiraiya, he'd given him the first volume of a particularly dirty looking manga called Icha Icha Paradaise, and for the Old Man he had a small booklet on how to be a successful leader. The rest, Tsunade, Shizune, Genma, Ibiki, the janitorial staff, etc, all got cards depicting a simple snow scene with a "Yo!" and his signature scrawled inside.

His holiday duties finally obliged, he wandered back to the seventh grade hall. The kids, were, of course, bouncing back and forth between homerooms and lockers. He'd just unlocked his room when,

"Shut up!"

It was a faint yell, hardly one that would carry, but for Kakashi's trained ears, it was loud enough as to be labeled "interesting," and so he followed the sound to see Sakura standing in front of a trembling Hinata, glaring daggers at Temari in front of the science room.

"What's the matter, prissy pants, are you so self righteous that you have to stick up for china dolls that can't stand up for themselves? How arrogant of you! For all you know Hinata-chan and I could be having a simple discussion, but no, you're so right about everything that--"

"You were bullying her!" Sakura interjected. "You grabbed her wrist! I saw it!"

Kakashi was about to step in when Kurenai flew out of her room.

"Alright that's it, I've heard enough!" she said in a clear voice. "Temari, you have a detention with me for bullying Hinata."

"You mean just because Sakura--"

"You can think whatever you want, Temari," Kurenai said in a low voice, her red eyes flashing like Kakashi had never seen. "I don't particularly care. But I will not tolerate bullying. Don't think this is the first time I've notice you trying to get Hinata to give you her homework, either."

"That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair, Temari," Kurenai shot back. "It's time you learned about it. Come with me." Kurenai took two steps to her room and turned around. "Well?"

Temari growled but followed the teacher in. Kakashi sauntered up to the two girls. "You two okay?" he asked softly, still staring into the science room where he could just make out Kurenai's profile as she scolded - was she actually shaking her finger at the girl? - Temari.

"We're fine, sensei," Sakura said quickly. "Right, Hinata?"

"Y-yes," she whispered, her voice quieter than normal, and her face very pale.

"Tell you what, you two can have the couch in homeroom," he said. Sakura looked particularly happy at this thought, and gently urged Hinata to come with her. Kakashi watched them until they entered his room, then stepped into Kurenai's room to see what else there was to see. Kurenai had finished shaking her finger at the blond Temari, apparently, and now had her hands on her hips.

"Now sit down," she said, pointing to a chair.

Temari glared furiously at the floor, a flush in her cheeks.

"Well?" Kurenai demanded. Wordlessly the seventh grader took her homeroom seat.

Kakashi offered a small round of applause as he made himself known. "I don't think I've ever seen you that strong with a student," he said quietly. Kurenai flushed herself a little, and then lead him to the back science room where they could talk. "It was a surprise to see you so fierce with a student," Kakashi continued. "You're usually so gentle and nurturing."

"Yes, well," Kurenai said, running a hand through her thick locks. She adjusted her hitae-ate and then looked up. "Kakashi, is it alright to have a favorite student?"

The English teacher shrugged. "Of course. So long as you don't _play_ favorites."

"Well, I think Hinata is my favorite," she said softly, leaning against one of the freestanding tables. "She works so damn hard all the time, she pushes herself, and yet she never complains. To see someone like that heavyweight Temari trying to jerk homework out of her, it just gets me so mad." She sighed, exhaling completely. "I probably went overboard, didn't I?"

Kakashi smiled. "No, you didn't. Quite the contrary. I saw that spark in your interview last year, and I've been waiting very patiently to see it in action. Kurenai, you'll be just fine here."

Kurenai blinked, surprised at the praise, then flushed a little in embarrassment before offering a shy smile of her own.

* * *

"Yo!" 

"You're late!" Iruka retorted.

"Sorry, sorry. I ran across a panda with a collection of signs who gave me a great splash of cold water which turned me into a girl; and shortly after that a boy in yellow with fangs challenged me to a fight along with some Chinese youth with glasses who still couldn't see and a girl dressed in a boy's school uniform, on top of two other girls, one very tightly clothed and the other looking suspiciously jealous as they announced they were my fiancees and--"

"Liar!"

"You mean you don't want to know how I figured out how to turn myself back into a guy?"

Kurenai and Asuma both snorted behind their hands.

Kakashi sat down in his usual chair and slid into a slouch before pulling out his beloved book. He glanced at the table and blinked. "This is a different spread than normal," he said, staring.

Indeed, the lunch that was bought once a week by one of the teachers was not the usual pizza or Chinese; it was an Italian spread. He spied both veal and chicken parmagiana; a basket of garlic breadsticks; an alfredo dish with sauted onions, parsley, and other vegetables; a giant chef salad with a collection of dressings; and some kind of pastry covered in whipped cream and surrounded by sliced strawberries. He stared some more and realized that the inside of his mouth was watering.

"Merry Christmas!" Kurenai said, clapping her hands together. "It's my treat!"

And so, instead of talking shop, they spent most of Team Time stuffing their faces. Kurenai's gift was delicious, and Kakashi enjoyed mooching off of everyone else's plate - something Iruka and Gai in particular found annoying. "Fear not, my rival; I will prevent you from ferrying away another morsel by--hey!" Kakashi took another forkful of the alfredo. Iruka and Kurenai thanked Kakashi for their gifts, which alerted Asuma that his was in his mailbox and he disappeared to find it, returning with a wide grin on his face and tossing Gai's present over the buffet.

It turned into a gift-giving spree then, Iruka handing out his presents. He, like Kakashi and books, always gave out the same gift: ornaments. This year it was a delicate looking icicle, looking like crystal but actually plastic. The Scarecrow held it up to the light as Kurenai and Gai gushed over the gifts, liking how it caught the light. "This is going in my car," he said finally.

Iruka blinked. "What?"

"There's no point putting something like this on a tree for only part of the year. This is going in my car on my rearview."

The special education teacher sputtered, not sure whether to be flattered or insulted. He finally decided on the former, however, and smiled gently at the English teacher.

Asuma, too, handed out his presents; a matching collection of loud, blinking Rudolph ties that were so tacky they could only be gag-gifts. Kurenai, too, was not spared as she was given the necklace/earring equivalent, and they all agreed unanimously to wear them the next day just to irritate the kids.

Gai's gifts, as always, were the most thoughtful. For example, for Asuma he had bought a gold encased lighter, and the math teacher quickly disappeared, cigarettes in hand, to try it out. For Kurenai he'd purchased a collection of lipsticks, and she marveled at them for a long time before muttering a thank you. To Iruka, Gai had bought an electric massager for the injured teacher's many aches and pains, which Iruka also tried out immediately. For Kakashi, who was notoriously difficult to shop for, Gai bragged how he spent many months of thought on his choice of gift to find something that was perfect for the English teacher. Kakashi stared at the small package and finally ripped at the wrapping paper to discover that the Green Beast had, in fact, found the perfect gift. It was a bookmark, gold plated and shaped almost like a fishhook, the neck flat to fit between pages and the hook ending with a dangling figurine, a lion it looked like, which had obviously been painted green.

"And now, my eternal rival, whenever you open your book to read you shall think of me, the Green Beast, and know that I shall surpass you!"

"... Thank you," Kakashi said, honestly sincere. He flipped open his book and pulled out the old library card that he'd been using and replaced it with the treasured gift.

They spent the rest of the period eating the food and then helping Asuma and Kurenai clean up, carrying her dishes to her science room to rinse them off and place them in a picnic basket she'd brought specifically for her celebratory lunch. Kakashi cleaned off the utensils while Kurenai and Gai filtered in and out with new dishes and Styrofoam cartons of the leftovers.

"They go in the fridge in the back room," Kurenai explained to Gai. "So they can keep for when we come back or something. Either that or I'll eat the rest of it for lunch later."

"Agreed, esteemed science teacher!" Gai announced, disappearing into the back room.

Kurenai sighed contentedly. "This is turning out to be a good year," she said, putting her elbows on her front desk. Kakashi continued to wash plates in the sink next to her. "The kids are wild but manageable, which are two words I'd never have thought to put together when I was first starting out. Wild meant uncontrollable, but this is the first year where I haven't struggled with it. It's also the first year where I've had fellow teachers that aren't shy to have my back. You know," she said, turning to the Scarecrow. "I think I'm going to like it here."

"Ah," he said, handing her a platter to dry. "That's why it took you so long."

"'Took me so long'?" she queried.

"To relax," Kakashi replied. "When the Old Man interviewed you, you tended to babble and repeat yourself, but there was a spark in your eye when you talked about the kids, about how you felt when you taught. I knew then that you'd be perfect for the school, and it took quite a bit of lobbying to get you in."

Kurenai blinked. "Lobbying?"

"Oh, sure, there was another candidate that fit the job too, and some of the teachers were almost coming to blows over who they favored. I looked to the Old Man and reminded him, 'Hey, you're the one in charge, it's your decision.' He smiled and said, 'Why, yes it is.' And you were in. I was a little disappointed when I didn't see that spark at first, but I guess you just needed to feel comfortable."

Kurenai smiled a little, turning around and putting her elbows on the high desk. "I guess you're right," she said. "The old school was a lot smaller, and the people there were really set in their ways and didn't like the idea of change. The head of the science department actually told me not to be so 'new.' I put op with it for four years before I realized I was unhappy. Between that and the commute and the tiny paycheck, I left. I was scared I'd go through it again."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, you won't. Not so long as we're here."

"Yeah. I know that now."

"Good."

* * *

It had been a good way to start off the week, Kakashi decided as he drove in Tuesday and admired his new icicle. The kids were slowly getting more and more obnoxious, the approaching holiday driving them wild on many, many, levels; but it was days like yesterday that made the Scarecrow smile. Little celebrations like that were very rare for him, and he hoped that Obito, in his newer eye, could see that yes, in spite of it all, he could be happy when he wanted too. Maybe it was the Christmas Spirit? 

He'd made maybe five steps into the seventh grade hall before a certain pink head stepped into his way. "Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, a bright smile on her face. "Merry Christmas!" and she held her hands forward to give him a card and a white chocolate snowman lollipop, the plastic cover wrapped in red and green ribbons.

And that was the beginning. Hinata nervously walked up to his desk in homeroom to give him a card, her neat handwriting thanking him for giving her the chance to work her hardest inside the flap. Later the Sasaki twins gave him matching pens with sytrofoam snowmen on their tops, one wrapped in a piece of flannel cut into a scarf and the other with a black construction paper hat. During SSR, Sasuke, after much poking from Sakura, handed him a simple card with "Thank you," written inside. F period brought Naruto giving Kakashi a coupon for a ramen stand on Main Street; a card from Shino, and a group card from Team 5, and so on. When all was said and done, he had over two-dozen assorted cards and candies and gifts from the students. He checked in with the other teachers and saw that they, too, had been similarly thought of.

Wednesday came, and more students took their opportunity to hand out gifts and well wishes. When team time came around, they were all smiling rather foolishly, student gifts always bringing out touched feelings and memories of their own childhood.

Kakashi almost didn't want to interrupt it, but it was better to think about it now than later, and so he said: "Alright. Let's get it over with."

"Get what over with?" Kurenai asked.

"The holidays are coming up. Despite overwhelming media evidence that it's all happy fanfare, it's going to be a bitch for some of these kids. Whom are we worried about?"

"Naruto," Iruka said without needing to think. "He has a great foster father right now, but holidays have always been terrible for him. He's hinted at how lonely he gets around this time of year, and he's also rather proudly stated that some of his best pranks come around this time, too." He paused, propping and elbow on the table and holding his chin with the attached hand. "I hope it won't be so bad this year, because he has Sasuke and Sakura this time, along with Yondaime-san. Maybe it'll be quiet this year." He sighed. "I've heard about some of his pranks, I don't really care to live through one."

"Sasuke's another concern," Kakashi added. "He lost his parents over the summer, and this time of year is always peculiar to family values. He'll be missing them, and he's the type to get very dark and broody. Itachi also might make an appearance; you never know - and he seems like the type to see something through."

"You fear that he will come after you, perhaps?" Gai said.

Kakashi shrugged. "I can handle him if it comes to that. But I think his focus is Sasuke. Any others?"

"Kiba," Kurenai said, fiddling with her earrings. "And Hinata. Kiba's been muttering in my class rather darkly, and Hinata keeps throwing looks my way, like something's up. If what Kakashi overheard was true about Kiba's eating schedule, I just hope he makes it through the week without starving. Hinata, too, has to spend a whole week with her parents, and as soon as we come back we're getting ready for midterms; I'm sure the Hyugas are going to push her beyond tolerance."

They all nodded in agreement.

"I'm worried about Chouji," Asuma said. "He's been acting really strange lately, and I'm getting the message that his after school friends are more than a bit different than his school friends. I hope the family goes somewhere over break so he doesn't run into that crowd. And of course there's Ino. I'm sure she's going to be very active over break."

"Then, of course, there is our moody Gaara," Gai added. "With his beloved uncle no doubt working many, many shifts, he will spend untold hours alone and stewing in his room. I fear that he may come back more confrontational than ever."

Kakashi noted the lists; Homeroom Challenge was the next day, and he'd see what he could do to poke the mentioned students into safer or at least softer directions while they cleaned out their lockers.

"Any major announcements?" he asked once he felt the topic had been thoroughly covered.

"There will be a faculty meeting when we come back from break," Asuma said, sitting at his computer. "I just got the email. Apparently we're finally going to hammer out what to do with that damn union president. Oh, and the dance ticket sales went great. We dropped another hundred dollars into our account. The other seventh grade team is also planning a big fundraiser in January; if it's half as good as the headband idea," he tapped his own; they all still wore them, "we're in good straights."

"Oh, that reminds me, my A period got another Academic Excellence," Kurenai said. "Who's in the lead now?"

"Hm, probably Gai, still."

"Ha! Did you hear that Kakashi? I have once again surpassed you!"

"Hm? Did you say something Gai?"

The social studies teacher fumed as the bell rang.

* * *

Thursday, being a half-day, worked a little bit differently for Homeroom Challenge. Because the periods were shortened, nobody had time for a movie, and so they squashed all their games into the smaller periods instead, spreading it out over the day - which was about the same time frame that they would have under a normal schedule. 

Kakashi was once again in charge of locker cleanout. He'd talked to the janitors the previous week, and the extra garbage can was in his room and waiting when he walked in that morning. After morning announcement, they all filtered out into the hall.

His first stop was to Sakura as she sat in front of her locker with her neatly written notebook open and was pulling out dittos and sections to be sorted. "Sensei?" she asked. "Should I keep this?" She held up a grammar exercise sheet.

"Hmm, no probably not," he said. "Unless you want to get that particular question on the midterm wrong," he added blithely.

Sakura glared at him, her hand already inches from the garbage can. "You're a pain, Kakashi-sensei," she muttered.

The Scarecrow grinned. "I work at it every day," he answered blithely, crouching down in front of her. "What are you doing over the holidays?"

"We're going upstate to watch Christmas Eve mass with my grandparents," she said, excitement entering her voice. "It's a two hour drive, and we'll be looking at all the house decorations and singing carols and having fun. Then, on Christmas Day, we'll open all the presents and after dinner we'll watch a movie call Christmas Carol! Mom said it's a classic and really good; she watches it every year and this time she wants Dad and me to watch it too!"

"Oh, I see," Kakashi drawled. "I've seen that myself several times. It is a classic."

"It is?!" she asked, curiosity surging through the young honor student. "What's it about?"

"Hm," the teacher said, rubbing his chin. "Should I give away such an excellent plot?"

"Yes!" she squealed.

"Alright," he said, sounding resigned. "It's about a man named Ebenezer Scrooge." He paused, letting Sakura giggle at the name. "He's a crotchety old coot, mean as can be who, over the course of the movie, comes to learn the meaning of Christmas."

"A transformation story!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I love those!"

"Hm, I have a fondness for them myself," he said, still rubbing his head. "I hope Sasuke gets a chance to see it."

The Student Council Secretary blinked. "Why?"

"Oh," Kakashi said lightly, waiving it off. Cast the bait, he thought. "It's nothing important."

"What? What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.

Reel her in... "It's just that I think he could use that kind of story right about now. I'm sure he's feeling like a crotchety old coot right about now, what with the holiday and no family to celebrate it with. Naruto must be feeling the same way, too. It just seems like a good movie for them. Anyway, back to work." Kakashi stood and walked away, mentally counting to ten before he looked around and saw the thoughtful frown of Sakura. Hook, line, and sinker!

Fully satisfied, he moved further down the hall and saw an unmitigated mess. Adding to the pile of crumpled and dirty papers, ripped folders, a tattered notebook, and crumpled paper bag book covers, was Kiba, using his hands to shovel out his locker. Wafting from the cavern was a distinctive odor, caught between muttered curses and the occasional growl as Kiba caught his hands on something sharp. The grey-eyed Hinata, next to him, was trying to get a word in sideways between his various noises.

"Uhm, but Kiba," she was whispering. "I'm really worried about you. Next week, you'll probably..."

"I'll what?" the boy in the sweatshirt growled. "You afraid I'll stink or something? That I won't be good enough for your rich happy family? I've seen how they look at me when I'm over, always looking down their noses at me, like I'm some good-for-nothing stray that you happened to take pity on or something."

"Th-they don't think that," Hinata stuttered.

"They do, Hinata, I've seen it. I'm not good enough for your family 'cause I'm poor and ho--"

"You're good enough for me," Hinata said fiercely before realizing what she said and covering her mouth in shock. "Uh, oh, uh, I m-mean, that is, oooooh!" She hid her face in her hands, unable to withhold Kiba's shocked stare.

"Hina-chan," Kiba said suddenly, his eyes bright and a fanged grin on his face, "you're all right!" He slapped her coarsely on the back in approval, sending the timid girl nearly into her locker. He laughed uproariously, causing several students to stare but he didn't care, so happy he was at being told that the girl of the richest family in town accepted him. Hinata continued to blush furiously.

Grinning, he backed away, seeing that they didn't need any intervention. One redhead did, however. He sat in front of his locker, holding his head and swaying slightly, back and forth, back and forth. Kakashi crouched down by him, quietly but making sure he was radiating reassurance.

"... Gaara?"

"Go away," he muttered, his outlined eyes staring off into nothingness. "Go away, all of you." His rocking became slightly more pronounced, a small, pathetic groan vibrating through his throat. "Yashamaru? Yashamaru, did my mother love me?" Another groan churned through his vocal cords and slowly, carefully, Kakashi motioned for Sakura. The pink haired girl came over, throwing a concerned and slightly scared glance at the rocking boy by Kakashi.

"Get Iruka-sensei," he whispered, his words only entering Sakura's ears. "Then Tsunade-sama. Be subtle, if you can." The girl nodded and disappeared into Iruka's room, the special education teacher coming out a full forty seconds later, Sakura also appearing but going in the opposite direction for Tsunade. Kakashi, still crouched by the boy, quickly signed what was happening. A child or two looked at the two teachers, wondering why their hands were moving, but otherwise passed it off as the English teacher playing more mindgames.

"Gaara?" Iruka asked, kneeling down next to the boy. "Gaara? Are you alright?"

"Yashamaru? Make it go away. Make the pain go away."

Slowly, Iruka murmuring platitudes, he was able to get the boy to stand up and start walking down the hall, just as Sakura and Tsunade showed up. The blond nurse helped Iruka guide Gaara the rest of the way.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked. "Sensei, what was that all about? That was scary."

Kakashi looked down at the girl, noting that his homeroom was otherwise oblivious to what had transpired. "Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-sama are handling it," he said softly, again controlling his voice. "There's nothing to worry about." Now, at least, he thought. He gave Sakura a winning smile. "Now then, would you like to help me herd everyone back into my room?"

She stared at him for a long moment, gauging, thinking, before finally saying, "Alright, Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura was very smart for her age; Kakashi just hoped she was smart enough to keep her mouth quiet about this.

The next cycle was Iruka's homeroom, and they cleaned out their lockers without incident, for which the English teacher was relieved. Next up was Gai's homeroom, and as they filtered to their lockers Kakashi made his rounds. This group, too, was relatively quiet. Shikamaru, like at the previous Homeroom Challenge, had nothing really to do, and so he sat against the wall, the Scarecrow towering over him as he stood, leaning slightly against the wall and, of course, still slouching.

"Hey, sensei," the lazy genius mumbled. Kakashi looked down in response. "Is our group always going to be so troublesome?" he asked.

The English teacher blinked, not having expected Shikamaru to pick up the hints he'd been dropping until at least the middle of January. He crouched down, leveling himself a little bit. "Well, that depends on you," he said lightly. "It has since the beginning of the year, but you haven't seen it yet."

Shikamaru frowned, his mind working through Kakashi's words. "You're hints are always so _troublesome_, Kakashi-sensei."

"Not really," the Scarecrow replied. "Think of it like shogi or sudoku. Only, instead of numbers it's words."

The boy's eyes widened slightly, his eyes becoming quickly distant as if a key had unlocked and a flood of thoughts and realizations started pouring into his brain. The silver haired teacher straightened, letting the boy have his moment to work through the puzzle. Kankuro had, meanwhile, procured a camera from somewhere and was taking snapshots of everything. In two long strides, Kakashi bent over and grabbed the camera. "Why thank you," he said lightly. "I've been looking for this all over the place." He then put it in is vest pocket next to his beloved book. The heavily made up boy frowned, almost pouting, but said nothing as he turned back to his locker and started pulling rumpled worksheets from them.

Walking back, Kakashi looked down at Shikamaru and saw that he had finally worked through his thoughts. "So you're saying that I can make our group better?" he asked, referring to his earlier question.

"Yes," Kakashi said, waiting for the next question.

"How?"

Nodding, Kakashi crouched down again. "Hmmm, how do I put this...?" he drawled. "Who gives all the orders in Team Ten right now?"

"Ino."

"Do you think she's the best qualified for it?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi didn't answer, the Shikamaru frowned again, muttering "troublesome" under his breath. The problem with Team 10 hadn't been their personalities; it had been their choice of leadership. Young Shikamaru had just assumed that because Ino gave the orders, that Ino was in charge. The truth of the matter, however was that _Shikamaru_ was in charge. On the rare occasion that the boy had taken interest in an assignment, he had actually been more than efficient in divvying the work and facilitating results quickly. He would even, without prompting, generate extra credit with the completeness of his answers, which he in turn shared and explained to his teammates. Ino, whether she was aware of it or not, deferred to Shikamaru when he took such an assertive role. Ino was the public face while Shikamaru was the string puller and Chouji was the legman. It was actually a better makeup than Kakashi had initially intended, and all that held them back was Shikamaru's laziness.

"Oh, that's just so _troublesome_," he whined, figuring it out for himself.

"That's your opinion. You asked if you're group was, to use your words, going to continue to be 'troublesome,' the answer to that is, 'only if you let it.' It's you're decision."

Shikamaru pouted openly, too lazy to stand up and go inside.

Nothing of note happened after that, and soon Gai's cycle finished and Kurenai's stepped out. Kakashi wandered over to the corner cluster of lockers. Temari, Kakashi noticed, had apparently taken fashion tips from Ino, because her jeans were just. Too. Tight. To be on her knees and bent over reaching into her locker was too much, and the half dozen boys around here were tripping over themselves asking if she needed help or if there was anything they could do, because of course they were nice guys and wanted to be helpful - so long as they got a view. Temari was another girl that developed early. Her chest was not as big as Ino's, but her hips were much more defined, as her dark jeans demonstrated.

Kakashi stood over the boys and turned on his intimidation glare, and most of the boys were smart enough to shy away. Temari, however looked up to see him and immediately started copping an attitude.

"What?" she demanded. "I'm cleaning out my locker, just like you wanted." She paused, waiting for a reply, and when Kakashi offered none, she rolled her eyes and snorted. "You probably just want an excuse to look at my ass."

Kakashi snorted. "To Ebisu-sensei. Now."

"Fine, I'll him you were trying to peep," she yelled, getting more than a few students to look her way.

"And what on earth makes you think you have anything to offer?" Kakashi replied, his eyes becoming very hard, his voice very low. The students backed away almost involuntarily, and Temari only huffed as she gathered her things and stormed down to the office. Once out of sight, Kakashi sneaked into Kurenai's room to use her phone. Dialing zero, Shizune picked up and the Scarecrow quickly passed on the story of what had happened, asking her to pass it on to Ebisu. Fair vice-principal he may be, but one thing the bespectacled man had no tolerance over was sexual harassment or innuendo of any kind, and more often than not tended to blow things out of proportion - especially if a teacher was involved. "No disreputable behavior!" he always exclaimed. Shizune understood this all too well, and promised she'd pass it on before Temari exaggerated too much.

That done, he threw a quick glance to Kurenai, who had heard the conversation and look appropriately shocked, and smiled winningly before going back outside. This homeroom was relatively quiet, however, and nothing overt had happened in the five minutes he'd been gone. Making a cursory pass around the lockers, he spied Shino, like Shikamaru before him, sitting against the opposite wall, having nothing to do. Kakashi leaned against the wall next to him, waiting to see if the boy had any questions or comments.

Finding none, he offered one of his own. "Could you do me a favor over break?" he asked lightly.

"A favor?" Shino asked, his covered eyes looking up to his English teacher.

"Mn. Do you remember what we talked about last time? About you being a leader?"

"... Yes," Shino drew out, not sure where the Scarecrow was going with this.

"I was wondering if you'd practice it over break."

"... Over break?"

"Yeah."

"But I'd need my teammates in order to practice it, wouldn't I?" he asked, slowly.

"Hmm. Yes, I suppose you would." Kakashi said nothing more, letting the Aburame boy work it out on his own. Meanwhile he made another pass around the lockers. Chouji was again eating whatever foodstuffs he found, regardless of age, and making obscene jokes about them.

"Look, look," he said to another student, waving a fuzzy and moldy old sandwich, "I'm growing my own weed! No, no, better yet, my own poppies!"

"Chouji," Kakashi said, radiating disapproval. "Keep your jokes limited to non-controversial topics, if you please."

"Duh, what's that mean?" he asked, deliberately putting a lisp in his voice and trying to sound stupid. "Us speds don't get much ejumucation!"

"Then you can have a detention the day you come back for inappropriate behavior," he replied. He moved to go into Kurenai's room for a detention form, and Chouji only made his voice louder and, if possible, stupider.

"Der, hey man!" he was laughing at his own joke, thinking it was the funniest thing in the world. Sighing, Kakashi had Kurenai dig out the form and wrote it up.

It wasn't long after that that the last homeroom of the day, Asuma's, came. Kakashi made his rounds, helping the janitor switch bags, making sure the kids were doing what they were supposed to, and poking those that weren't. He noted that Naruto and Sasuke, their lockers next to each other, were both very quiet, their faces downcast and almost bleak. He walked over to them first.

"These aren't faces I should be seeing before a Christmas holiday," he said lightly. They both looked up, slightly startled, before looking back down to their lockers. "Hm, now what could be generating this dark cloud I sense? Perhaps you're forlorn about the approaching holiday because it reminds you of the things that you've lost." The both looked up to him sharply, mirrors of each other in ways that they would never realize at this age. "Maybe you don't realize," he continued, acting as if he'd seen nothing, "that the families you don't think you have are actually right in front of you. I'll give you a hint, that person completes the two of you."

Without another word he stood and left them alone. Mirroring each other again, they had identical looks of surprise and question on their lips, wanting to know who this family member was that completed them. He grinned happily and somewhat evilly, glad he had managed to make two people very happy for Christmas.

At the other end of the lockers, a carbon copy of what had happen the last cycle with Temari was again occurring. This time it was a skirt and a shirt that, when the arms were raised, exposed the naval. Ino saw Kakashi walking towards her with a heavy glare and rolled her eyed.

"What is it _this_ time, sensei?" she whined, her voice the perfect pitch of "cute."

"Oh, nothing in particular, Ino," he said lightly, screwing a smile on his face even as he threw death glares at the boys. "Tell me, no one is bothering you, are they?"

Ino flashed what he supposed was to be a charming grin. "Nobody that I don't want to bother me!" she said happily.

"Oh, I see," he said. "Just make sure they don't bother you in school. You remember what happened the last time when someone was bothering you... right?"

Her flush of mortification only made the boys wilder, as well as her indignant pout as she turned around fiercely and went back to cleaning out her locker.

The English teacher sighed, knowing that it wouldn't be enough. Try though he might, he just couldn't save _everybody_, and it was his eternal disappointment to Obito and his promise. In the season of forgiveness he knew that there was no one who could forgive him. Frowning, Kakashi took his customary place at the wall and watched the last homeroom clean their lockers. He felt tired suddenly. He glanced at his watch and saw it was only quarter of twelve. Another twenty minutes until the students left and the vacation started. He was relatively certain that Gai would try to drag him to some family gala, try to inject him with holiday spirit.

Kakashi decided he'd be missing before the social studies teacher knocked on his door. He needed time with Obito, and Yellow Flash, and... He'd been neglecting them recently, and he needed to reaffirm a few things at the memorial, before he could screw his head on facing the right way - not straight, never straight, his head would forever be crooked with that last death, the last loved one that left him - and face the school with a new strength to see the year through.

There was something about this year's students that brought up all the memories. It was painful, and after four months of it he desperately needed the break. He was glad Christmas was coming. A nice relaxing week at the memorial.

It was with these dark thoughts that the bell rang and vacation began.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** It started off all nice and fluffy, because you can't really have a Christmas without being fluffy, but these can be dark holidays for teachers because of all the students you worry about. At least Kakashi was able to do something for his beloved Team 7, but you just can't help everyone. 

Sakura's arc continues to build next chapter, so keep reading!

**Spider Wench**: Why does Temari hate the other girls? Well, originally, Sand and Konoha were enemies in the series. We couldn't bring it over as a perfectly, but our little Sand siblings _are_ the major antagonists in this story. We'll find out the most about Gaara during Bloody April, and Kankuro and Temari's issues are revealed in June. nods And Public Displays of Affection are just that. Public. I swear, some students don't grasp what's really appropriate for public. I once saw an 8th grade boy reach out and squeeze a classmate's breast. shudder Too young. We're both of the opinion that you should wait for college and settling yourself down before you start looking at that kind of stuff. Once you're an adult, you can't co back.

**Simply Maniallol**: Glad you liked the Akimichi. One of the worst problems in such poor school districts _is_ that the parents aren't necessarily that great. Oh they may have good intentions, but if they don't have the time or aren't willing to discipline, the kids are going to run rampant. But even in the poorest of districts, you can find a rare gem from time to time. Yes, we have many arcs throughout the story. When we sat down to plan it, we actually ignored the Naruto characters and listed all the various stories that we've seen/heard over our years in the educational system. Most are from the students, but there are some teacher arcs (Gai and Asuma) that we'll be seeing later on. After that, we looked at the Naruto cast and saw how many fit in nicely. From there, it was merely pulling out a school calendar and deciding when cetain arcs should come to fruition. Of course, during the writing, we jotted down notes in future weeks based on what we had just written, because a lot _does_ come from the keyboard as well. In any event, we're glad you're enjoying so much.

**Crimson-Kyuubi-no-Kitsune**: smile If we can remind you of teachers you've actually had, then we must be doing something right.

**Ryuu-Chan**: We update every Saturday. The story's already done and written, so we try and match up the school year weeks with this current school year. We're glad this gives you such excitement. It is really hard for us to guage how this story will be accepted (or not) because a lot of this is real, only the Naruto cast has been transplanted into it. We have worries like, "Will this hit too close to home?", "Will anyone actually _read_ another high school fic, even though this is set in middle school?" etc. It's feedback like all of you that makes us think we're doing something properly.

**Happy Holidays to Everyone!!**


	18. Week 17

**January: Week Seventeen**

* * *

Christmas vacation was always an unusual and surreal time of year for Kakashi. While not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, he _did_ go to the Midnight Mass every year, huddled in the back. He never went for himself, but rather, because the Yellow Flash, Obito, and Rin, had _all_ been Christmas-Spirit advocates. So, he sat back and watched with Obitio's eye and hoped that they could all see. Afterwards, he would spend the rest of the night at the memorial with a nice large bottle of sake and twiddle time away before watching the sunrise. Christmas Day itself was spent lounging around the house, snoozing on occasion, and watching all those stop-motion-animation Christmas Specials that were on. As he watched the original Technicolor "Christmas Carol", he spared a brief thought on if Sakura had somehow convinced her parents to let two lonely boys come over, before taking another sip from his sake bottle and falling asleep. 

The week between Christmas and New Years was spent with Kakashi doing things nobody thought Kakashi would do. That snowy week was always devoted to cleaning. The English teacher would dust, vacuum, wash and wax, polish, and scrub everything in his home from floors, to sinks, to stove tops, to microwaves, etc. He also gave a thorough inspection to all his electrical, plumbing, and things that required maintenance. If occasion called for it, he'd even repaint a room, or rearrange things to better suit his comfort. Definitely an un-Kakashi thing to do, but with neighbors either away or involved in their own "family time", there was no better point for Kakashi to do it.

New Year's itself was when he'd go down to the local pub near the school and catch up on gossip of the teachers. During his second year, he'd started the "tradition" of the school faculty spending New Year's Eve together, so as to wish the students well in the coming year. Kakashi kept his ears opened to catch up on what he might miss, given his tendency to focus on the students first. Not as many teachers came as he might have liked, since many had their own traditions for ringing in the New Year, but it was slowly growing.

Thus, Monday morning, when Kakashi finally wandered in, late from having slept in for over a week, he could smile easily. He took all of one step into homeroom before a resounding call forced him to turn around.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!!"

"Yes, Naruto," he replied, trying to get some hearing back in his ears.

The blond barreled into his room, bouncing on each foot, polite enough, at least, to let Kakashi get to his desk and drop off his coat and bag.

"I have to tell you! I've had the best Christmas ever! The best vacation ever! Listen, listen!"

"I am listening," Kakashi placated, slumping into his chair and into a relaxed slouch.

"Yondaime-jiji took me down to Main Street Christmas Eve, and the whole street was filled with people who were caroling, and singing, and playing and stuff! I saw Hinata-chan, Kiba, Shikamaru, Temari, Asuma-sensei, the Old Man, Pervy Sage, and even some of my old foster parents! So that's where they went whenever they grounded me for Christmas, but anyway, there was a buffet, apple pie, ham, stuffing, brownies, cookies, and so much food! Yondaime-jiji and I had so much fun, but there was something missing, so I started a snowball fight and got Kiba right in the face, he got so mad!"

Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh! Behind the bouncing blond, Kakashi could see Kiba glaring and offering his nonverbal thought on what Naruto was shouting about. The Scarecrow gave a glare, raised an eyebrow, and Kiba backed down.

"And then, and then, Sakura-chan invited me and Sasuke-teme to her house on Christmas Day to watch some old flick about Christmas ghosts. It was in black and white! How ancient is that?"

Kakashi noted that Sakura didn't have the Technicolor version that was shown on TV that day. She must have had a VHS cassette to watch whenever she wanted. Ah well, the black and white was more classic in his opinion.

"Her parents were awesome, they let us stay over for the night! Yondaime-jiji seemed a little put out that I didn't come home, until I came back with Sakura's mother's fresh-baked cookies! I've_never_ had a Christmas like this before! Who knew it could be so much _fun_?"

The English teacher just smiled brightly, glancing over at Sakura who was looking down and bright red. Kakashi had to work very hard to Not Laugh as Naruto went even further to describe how absolutely wonderful his vacation was. He grinned and nodded appropriately, quieted the boy as announcements finally came on, before shooing him off to Asuma, his actual homeroom teacher.

* * *

Team Time that day had all of them mentioning Naruto's loud proclamation of how incredible his vacation had been. 

"He just wouldn't shut up this morning," Iruka groaned with a smile. "He didn't stop until he saw you, Kakashi, come in."

"Oh yes," Asuma nodded. "He was damn near shouting about it when he got to my room last. Poor Sasuke looked embarrassed to even know the boy."

"Such youthful exuberance should be encouraged," admonished the Green Beast, "for their times as children is far too finite and should be experienced to the fullest."

"Agreed," said Kurenai, "but at a lower volume. I already knew about seventy-five percent of the story by the time he got to my room because he was yelling it to Iruka, you, and Kakashi."

Kakashi turned a page, letting them joyfully complain about Naruto's fun over break. To see a student so happy was a rare sight, and one to be enjoyed, even if there were a few miniscule grumbles about volume. A few minutes later, after Kakashi felt they all had enough time to relish Naruto's good fortune, he redirected his team back onto more pertinent topics.

"So, how have the students we've been concerned about been?" he asked.

Asuma chuckled, a deep smoker's laugh. "Despite being mortified during homeroom, Sasuke was his usual quiet self A period. No problems. I think being with Sakura and Naruto over break really did a lot to keep him feeling good, even if he doesn't show a damn thing."

"The same occurred in my class," Gai agreed, "He participated with his usual reluctance. My only concern was that Hinata was unusually jumpy."

"I noticed that as well," the science teacher noted. "I tried to talk to her, but she just hemmed and hawed."

"Gaara's absent again," the English teacher commented.

Iruka and Asuma growled at that. "He can't afford this many absences!"

"Did anyone else notice Kiba's smell?" Kakashi asked. "He smelled of wet dog during homeroom today." Kurenai and Gai nodded.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Really? He was fine during Resource. Ah, but he just came from Gym. He probably showered."

"He also seems a little...gaunt when I saw him in the halls," the Sudoku master replied. Kakashi thought back to the conversation he overheard after Thanksgiving and replied,

"He may not have eaten much during vacation. We should keep a closer eye on him."

Concerns continued, as well as plotting possible platforming to offer support for the students they were still worried about. Kakashi noted the good ideas, shot down the bad, and brainstormed for the puzzling. Through it all, however, he noted that Kurenai had a distant look in her eye.

"What's wrong?" he asked, completely interrupting conversation.

Flustered, Kurenai blushed and stuttered for a moment before plowing ahead with her concern. "It's Chouji. He looks... different, I'm not sure how to describe it. During homeroom he was arguing with Temari and he usually doesn't argue with _any_one. He even threw a few insults to Shino."

"He has been getting rougher around the edges," Iruka pointed out, "much as I don't like to admit that."

"I know," the science teacher agreed. "But something felt... different this morning."

Asuma grunted. "Sakura was also acting a little strange in class today. She was quiet."

Kakashi frowned. This didn't sound good. "Keep an eye on everyone this week. Something doesn't feel right."

* * *

Wednesday ended up being a snow day, a nice little blizzard blowing in from the Northwest covering their town. It was a wonderful excuse to read by the fire or to just sit by the window and watch the snow falling silently. Despite the temptation to just stay indoors where it was warm and cozy, Kakashi did go out every few hours to scrape the coating off his driveway. As the physical labor numbed his mind, he took the opportunity to reschedule his lessons, since he had another professional development day coming up at the local university. 

Thus, Thursday, with a 90-minute delay, Kakashi's driveway was barely coated, so he shoveled the last layer of the foot and a half of snow they'd gotten and started to head in. Now normally, this would be considered a sin for Kakashi, since he would essentially arrive at school early. However, a 90-miute delay presented untold opportunities to get work done without students shouting all around you, so all teachers tried to get in early and take advantage of the quiet time. Besides, Kakashi would, no doubt, be the last of his team to arrive, so he was still "late".

After getting his morning coffee from the coffee shop at the end of his street, he slowly made his way to school and found a most unusual sight. Sakura, who always took the bus as far as he was aware, was walking to school today. Now, since the sidewalks weren't yet plowed (and probably wouldn't be for another few days), that meant that she was taking sinking footsteps into over a foot of snow, plus whatever the plow trucks had piled up on the side of the road.

Ignoring all the possible legal issues such as parents suing him if he got into an accident and Sakura got hurt, being alone with a student in his car, etc; Kakashi pulled over and rolled down a window.

"Yo!" he called out.

Sakura paused, looking down the slight incline from the sidewalk to the street blankly at him. She sniffed in the cold before smiling. "Oh, good morning Kakashi-sensei. How are you?"

"Warm and toasty. You?"

She gave a small laugh. "Frozen through."

"Care for a ride?"

Sakura looked around, her cheeks rosy in the frigid air, and gave a small smile. "Why not?" she muttered, climbing over the harder snow that the plows had piled up.

Unlocking his doors, Sakura took the front seat and looked surprised when she entered his car. That, Kakashi had expected. Given how lazy and tardy he could be, the Scarecrow was usually thought to be a slob. His room had stacks and stacks of books and papers all around that it was a miracle to the students that he could find anything so quickly. His car, by contrast, was extremely neat and tidy. He never ate in his vehicle, since that would mean he was rushing somewhere. No, he ate in kitchens, cafes, restaurants and other designated food areas. The only "food" that was ever in his car aside from lunch was his morning coffee, which he didn't sip from until he was at school. So, crumb and stain free, his car was also not a storage-bin. Whenever anything went into his car, it needed transport somewhere. An attache case carried any student papers, curriculum or lesson plans he needed from home to school, and his lunch, if he brought it, was in a small bag.

Thus, Sakura, had to reconcile her vision of a messy teacher with his very clean car.

"Is something wrong?" he asked brightly.

"Ah, no," Sakura replied, looking once more around his car.

"Good. So what brings you out into the cold? Shouldn't you be waiting for the bus?"

Sakura looked away as he pulled away from the sidewalk. Something was up, but he wondered if she would talk to him about it, or maybe she would open up to Tsunade. Letting her be, he turned up the heat and aimed the vents to her sopping wet jeans and boots. Hopefully, she'd have a change of clothes at school; otherwise, he'd recommend that she get any gym clothes she may have. It wouldn't be healthy for her to wear soaking pants all day.

The care ride was silent, save for NPR, which Kakashi always had on.

When they got to school, Kakashi said nothing, but the pink-haired seventh-grader trailed after him and followed him into his room. As he unlocked the door, Gai poked his head out from across the hall, and the Scarecrow threw a glance at the Green Beast, and then down to Sakura's dripping jeans. Gai nodded and headed down the hall to see Tsunade about extra clothes.

With his room open, Kakashi sat back at his desk and Sakura dropped her stuff on the floor and sat in front of him. He leaned back and waited. She needed to talk, and he was merely providing an open ear. It was up to her to use it or not.

Finally, leaning forward onto the desk and resting her head on her arms, she glanced up.

"I looked up something in the student handbook over break," she started. "Bullying is 'any overt acts by a student or group of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the other student while on school grounds or at a school-sponsored activity, which acts are repeated against the same student over time'."

Kakashi nodded. "I remember telling Kiba that definition after flying food and fists occurred."

"Oh yeah," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I'd forgotten about that."

Silence.

"How long is 'over time', Kakashi-sensei?"

The Scarecrow leaned back, hands behind his head, and looked at the ceiling. "This is one of those times that the English language can be very ambiguous. There is no definition of time because it can be different for different situations. Ambiguity can work to your advantage, or, if you need and thrive on precision, it can be terribly frustrating."

"I see," she mumbled. "And if it doesn't happen on school grounds? How do you prove the 'intent to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate' when the response will always be 'I was only kidding'?"

Kakashi frowned. "I'll tell you what. When a student comes to me about bullying, it's very hard as a teacher, to witness every incident. What I usually tell the student to do is to take notes."

Sakura opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Take notes?" she replied, unconvinced.

"Of course," her homeroom teacher replied. He pulled out a piece of paper and made four columns. "Date, Time, Who, and What Was Said," he pointed to each column. "If a student comes in with three or four pages, it's rather hard for administration to ignore. Even if the events don't occur on school grounds or school-sponsored activities, having that many notes is still very convincing that something is going on." Kakashi passed the paper over and leaned back again. "As a teacher, it's very hard to see everything going on in a room. I might be helping Team 4 while Team 9 is just drawing on their worksheets, while someone from Team 3 is trying to slip out of the room. I can't see everything, but I can _do_ something about what I know and see. If that student is missing from Team 3, they'll have a detention on their desk when they come back. If Team 9 isn't doing anything, I'll sit and work with them."

He glanced at her. "You've seen how I am about students who talk rudely to one another. I don't tolerate it in my room. I despise it when somebody shouts out about whatever they dislike is 'gay'. I'm disgusted when students refer to each other as 'retarded'. Students can't shout out how 'racist' something is when it doesn't go their way in my class."

Sakura smiled sadly, looking away.

"I always try to make my room safe for all students, Sakura. But I can only work with information." She nodded, and then lay her head back down on the desk.

So, why was Sakura out walking in the snow that morning? She lived a fair distance from the school, taking the bus would have been better. There was also the talk of bullying. Sakura had shown, on several instances, that she could stand up for herself. Not only that, she'd stand up for others, like with Hinata just a few weeks ago. So what was bothering the female member of Team 7?

"Kakashi-sensei," growled the busty figure of the nurse Tsunade, "I need to talk to you and you're always late!"

"I've been here the whole time," Kakashi replied blithely. "Where on earth were you looking?"

"I have several possible places, but I won't say it in polite company," she growled. "Sakura," she said, smiling gently. "You left something with me the last time you visited," she handed over a small bag which Kakashi hoped would have a spare pair of pants for her. "Go to your locker and get prepared for the day."

The girl looked up, looking tired, smiled weakly, and took the bag, shuffling out of the room. "What did you do to her?" the nurse growled.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, obscured by his headband. "I haven't done anything. She's been seeming a little down all week, but she's not talking about it."

"Yeah right," she growled. "You probably know exactly what's going on, but you're just not saying."

"No," he sighed, "that's not the case." She still held his first year against him. She wouldn't stop him from helping students, but she would not trust him in certain arenas. He sighed again. "Is there anything else, Tsunade-sama?"

"Hmph." She frowned down at him. "Kiba's family seems to be in bad straights right now. He's going to need the shower in the gym every morning, and we have to make sure he's having breakfast and lunch. I've already spoken to the gym teachers about that, they'll tell him today, but there really isn't enough money in his family and I think he's sacrificing for the rest of his siblings."

Kakashi frowned. "We noticed that something was up and Kurenai's been trying to get him to open up, but he's been shut about as tight as a welded corner. Hinata and Shino have been worried all week."

"They should be," Tsunade whispered. "He won't give details to administration either..."

That wasn't good.

* * *

Given the delay, classes were shorter and students were rowdy, all of them having been praying for a second snow day, and still stoked from playing in the snow. Plus, the schedule was all topsy-turvy and nobody knew when classes began, ended, or what order they were in. So, when Kakashi finally grabbed his lunch and wandered back to Asuma's room, he was ready for a break from the brats. 

"Yo," he greeted tiredly, plopping down in his usual seat and setting his Styrofoam tray of macaroni and cheese down. "Anyone have some good news?"

"My Eternal Rival, the best of news is what I have to present! Aoba has graciously accepted the role of representative of our union and has already rescinded the ridiculous regulations that his uncivilized predecessor initiated." Gai beamed.

"Aaaaah, at last," Kakashi murmured through a mouthful of food.

"Midterms are in two weeks, have you forgotten?" Asuma grumbled. "We'll actually have some peace and quiet for a change."

"Two weeks?" Kurenai asked. "Nobody told me when midterms would be! Ah, that changes everything." Frowning, she pulled out her planner and started looking ahead.

Iruka looked up. "Wait, you didn't get the email from our computer people about all the damn procedures we need to go through to submit midterms?"

"Huh?" the science teacher replied. "That wasn't just about submitting grades for second quarter?"

Asuma sighed. "Come here, I'll show you what needs to be done." He pulled her over to his computer and started tapping at the keyboard and clicking the mouse.

"How's Sakura and Kiba been?" Kakashi asked Iruka and Gai, his worries from that morning still strong.

"I fear our little flower petal has become more reserved in my class," the social studies teacher noted, "and I've seen that she seems to have a heavy burden weighing on her sharp mind."

"I've noticed it too," Asuma said from the computer. "Her grades are a little lower this week than normal, but it could just be she's having trouble with the new unit we're covering, most students do."

"Kiba's been unusually harsh lately," Iruka added. "He's been snappish and almost cruel towards other students, but he won't tell me what's going on. I know something must have happened over break, but he's not telling."

"Ha," Asuma grunted as he and Kurenai sat back down. "You should haven seen him last period with me. I've got Naruto, Kiba, Gaara, and Kankuro all in one class. They're always in some sort of scuffle about something. Monday and Tuesday ended up being just seatwork because they couldn't behave themselves. Kankuro's usually the instigator, but Kiba's been just as bad."

The science teacher nodded. "He and Chouji have really been going at it in A period." She sighed. "About the only thing he'll tell me is that the bills are getting more expensive. He's just a kid, he shouldn't be worrying about bills at twelve years old."

Kakashi nodded, turning another page and waiting a moment for Iruka to finish writing everything down. "Kurenai, since Kiba's willing to open up to you, continue to be supportive of him. Try and talk to Hinata and Shino as well, they might have an idea of what's going on, or they might not. But he'll talk to them on occasion about things as well. I'm going to try and pry open Sakura. I know she usually goes to Tsunade first, but even she doesn't know what's going on with her. Iruka, try and sit on Kankuro if you can, if things are going like I think they are, he needs a watchdog and to not make things worse. Asuma..."

"I'm already working on Chouji and Shikamaru. Send Ino to me during SSR," he said to the social studies teacher, "I think they need some team work."

Kakashi nodded again. "Gai, I want you to see if you can work with Gaara, see if you can find a good incentive to get him to come to school." So far, they had all been attacking the various problems the students had individually. It was time for a more controlled and united front.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Another plate spinner. These chapters are hard because there are so many little things to set up that an outline doesn't necessarily tell you, and sometimes you just don't have ideas. And the bit with Sakura in the snow actually happened once. I'm not sure if we've mentioned this or not, but that is a straight quote from a student handbook about bullying. Many people will go to administration after one incident and call it bullying. That's not true, it has to take place over time. What Kakashi told Sakura to do is what we were told to do when we were in school and it really helps. Of course, many high school fics have this vision of what bullying is. We've been through it. We've had to help student's who've been through it. We've had to crack down on students who do it. Bullying isn't some kid with a bad homelife taking misplaced aggression out on somebody smaller and weaker. (Although the bad homelife _can_ be a part of it sometimes...). Nor is bullying the popular kids with their little clique picking on the unpopular kids. Bullying is can be far more sublte. It can be ignoring, notes, rumors. The bully doesn't even have to be there for bullying to occur. The victim of bullying is sometimes the quiet one who never speaks up, but the vicitim can also talk back and fight and still be put down. Similarly, high school fics have a lot of bullying take place during class time. Please. If you have a good teacher in the room, no negative comments are going to be made because nobody will be speaking out of term. Students are amazed at how good my ears pick up when they're insulting each other and I reply, very loudly "Polite and respectful language, please."

Of course, none of this is actually saying whether Sakura is being bullied or not. She could be interested in the definition of bullying for someone else. One wonders, ne?

**spider wench**: We're glad you liked all the gifts last chapter. You are correct, with such a large cast as the one Naruto has, someone's bound to be gay. However, we're not going to be making any overt overtures to couples. Any coupling you see will be if you squint. Though we both admit, we're fond of Kakashi/Iruka. But you don't fall in love in a year. Iruka has to get through Kakashi's little obstacle course to even make it to friend right now, let alone anything more.

**InoShikaCho**: We think this chapter should give you a fair hint at what the current arc is. We'll be seeing a bit more with Ino in a few chapters, sorta... We're also glad that you can relate to some of our storylines. It wasn't something we first thought of when writing. Originally, this was about stuff that we've seen/gone through as a quasi-therapy for us. It never occured to us that because we were pulling so much from reality that other people might relate as well. We hope that, while these stories might hit close to home, you can still enjoy them from a different perspective. And we'll be seeing more of Shikamaru when Chouji's arc comes to the foreground, but that's not till... February I think. smile We're glad you're waiting for updates. Sorry, but Saturday is the only day we can do it with the proper amount of time for reviews, rereading for mistakes, etc.

**Dochi**: Yay! A new reader! As we've said before, we were going for a different take on the old high school fic and we're glad you find it so intersting. We were also amazed at how well the Naruto cast fit in. When we originally were talking of doing a high-school fic, the two of us picked Naruto because it was the only show with a big enough cast to really fit what we wanted to do. Once we discussed all the stories we wanted to incorporate, it was amazing how quickly everything started falling into place. There are some places where the characters just fit perfectly, no tweaking necessary. Ah Cleveland. Years ago, that city wanted to spend millions on building a new football stadium while they had classrooms without ceilings, leaks, and no computers whatsoever. It's amazing where people will put their money sometimes. nods Rich schools can be just as bad, and can be worse in some degrees if the parents have the power to interfere with the teachers like Hinata's family is trying to do. However, I will say the poor schools are worse because even the classrooms can be unsafe with mold, falling ceiling tiles, and the students are busier trying to survive than play power games with parents and teachers like rich schools are plagued with. Once again, the two of us are amazed that people can relate to these stories that we've either heard or been through. We love Kakashi. He's a blast to write. He's the kind of teacher the two of us strive to be. Look for Hinata's story to come to a head during April. Well, the Sand Siblings aren't really "related" in the manga either. They merely define themselves as a family. Given time, they will do so in this universe as well. If they get the time. Again, look for Bloody April for more. We're so glad you're enjoying.

**Alisa Makora**:Yay! Another new reader! Very astute observation. We agree, Naruto is just as much about growing up outside the norm as it is the politics, or the characters of the story. And yet again we're amazed that people can relate. (Have we said that enough yet? '') nods High school fics, I swear, only have teachers to mention a name. Teachers do a lot more than just teach. Curriculum is only half of it. More often than not, we're like parents for the kids, especially in poor schools where the parents are working three or four jobs to keep food on the table. Many parents in that environment (sadly) don't care about their kids. Some do care, but don't have the time or energy to try. It's rare to find parents who care and are willing to work with others to ensure their kids turn out okay. Don't worry, the story is already finished, it's just a matter of putting up the chapters. We'll keep going all the way through June. blink You think people _should_ read this? Wow. Now that really is a compliment... Thank you.

Happy New Year Everyone!


	19. Week 18

**January: Week Eighteen**

* * *

Monday was another ninety-minute delay because of a storm that swept in late Sunday night. Kakashi had awoken to only four inches of snow, but the street plows were still working on getting the roads clear, so he pulled out his handy shovel and made (relatively) quick work of his driveway before creeping his way in. The main roads were fine, but the side roads were downright treacherous. He tool a silent breathe of relief when he finally parked. He hadn't seen Sakura on the drive, so he took that to be a good sign. 

He still had the clock schedule from last week, and he quickly threw it up on the board. He took the time to make several copies of the chapter test for Friday, and finally got around to digging out his Jeopardy board for the review on Thursday. He poked his head in to Gai and asked when the social studies teacher was going to do that term paper - a joint unit between English and Social Studies that came at different times, depending on the topic that Gai wanted to cover. Kakashi also meandered over to Iruka - cursing the copier in the main office - and set up what PPTs he'd be dropping in on the following week. After that was a quick stop to the head of the English department to see if they were still holding a meeting after school - something Kakashi inevitably hoped would be canceled because he was never fond of the complaining that happened in such gatherings. He also ran into one of the eighth grade teachers who had a question about Tenten, whom he'd had the previous year; that launched a conversation in general about the eighth grade and how they were doing. This was where Kakashi learned an interesting bit of trivia: Rock Lee had a crush on a seventh grader! Gai would be thrilled beyond measure, and he made a mental not to drop off the information. Not long after that, Jiraiya appeared in his room to ask about holidays and the like, knowing how Kakashi tended to spend them, and then playfully complained about why he hadn't been invited to the moonlight sake session at the memorial.

And after all _that_, the students finally started to arrive.

The first early bird he saw was Chouji, stalking down the hall to his locker. Shortly after that was Sakura, he jeans again wet but she carried a bag that the Scarecrow suspected had another set. They all started to filter in after that, either being dropped off by parents or by the buses. Bus 19 was to be late, according to announcements, and Homeroom was almost over before the familiar faces of Hinata and Shikamaru, among others, finally rushed their way to their lockers.

The kids were again rowdy, but by now they knew that they weren't going to get very far. Naruto in particular seemed to be twitchy, and the Scarecrow later found out that the boy had forgotten to take his medication. He felt intense sympathy for Iruka when SSR came around, and he heard various proclamations and exclamations being elicited across the hall.

So, when Team Time came around, he wandered in to see Iruka using some very creative curses in complaint.

"That resource is a nightmare, a friggin' nightmare," he muttered, finally getting his temper under control. "I have Naruto, Gaara, and Kiba all in one class; and Chouji, when he isn't hanging out with you, Asuma. Plus Hanamaru and Koumaki and Takato and Ryoko. Everybody distracts everybody else. My room isn't big enough, doesn't have enough corners, to keep all the boneheads separate, and once one goes they all go. Just today!" he exclaimed, again getting angry as he relived the moments. "Naruto without his damn meds and wanting to know what everybody else is doing. Kiba is all around pissed, about what he refuses to say, and alternates between cussing everyone out and putting his head on his desk, which ticks off Hanamaru because the little brat thinks the world is against him and everyone gets special treatment but him. He complains to Ryoko, who then doesn't do her work and when the para tries to get her going, she just shouts out that she's too stupid and puts _her_ head on the desk. Then Naruto, whom I've finally managed to get quiet, looks up and wants to know what's up and it starts all over again!

"Gaara gets involved at that point, making the ubiquitous and less than articulate pronouncement that they're all idiots and pulls out his precious headphones to listen to some band scream about slitting wrists and shooting girlfriends; his volume is up and everyone can hear it, and Chouji in a fit of _insanity_ goes up and tells Gaara to 'turn those fucking things off!' Gaara looks about ready to commit murder and I have to get in between the two and demand Chouji sit down. Hanamaru decided to exclaim that if Gaara can listen to his headphones then - something specifically written in his social contract and unique to him - then he can to and pulled out his iPod. Kiba tries to warn them about the scissors from the detention that one time, and before I can get them out _Naruto_ is up out of his seat and asking if he can go get _his_ headphones. It was a mob after that!

"And _then_--" Iruka started, but Kakashi held up his hand before the poor man had an apoplexy.

"I think we get the idea," he said in even tones. "How many detentions did you hand out?"

"I would have had to hand out a detention for the entire class," the special education teacher said, deflated and out of energy.

"Then we'll just have to torture them in house, won't we?" Kakashi said. "I have most of them over the next two periods. I'm sure I can think up something."

Iruka looked up, his eyes wide at the thought, before a grateful and downright evil grin spread on his face as he continued to contemplate.

Kurenai frowned, running a thin finger along the line of her chin. "Maybe, to stave these nightmares off in the future, we can put something in the newsletter or something. You know, post the bell schedule and remind parents to remind students that this kind of behavior is intolerable."

"Perfect segue," Kakashi said, "We can probably start it right now." He glanced at Asuma, who was already getting up and moving to his computer. "We can talk about midterms next week, too; that schedule is going to be all screwed up as well."

"Speaking of which," Asuma said, clicking away at his screen. "There's an email here saying that the schedule's posted in the main office."

Iruka looked up from his visceral contemplation and frowned. "Why didn't they just attach it to the email?"

The math teacher snorted. "Because it's Ebisu. God forbid he let an opportunity slip where the masses come begging to him for information."

"I shall go and rally the information from our esteemed if annoying vice principal!" Gai offered, standing and leaving Asuma's room.

"Be nice," Kakashi said to the math teacher at the same time, still reading his book and ignoring the Green Beast (who of course was already declaring Eternal Rival verses). "Is there anything else we want to mention in the newsletter?"

"How about reprinting the school dress code," Kurenai offered. "Ino and Temari aren't the only ones flirting with the code, I saw Yuzuhi walking around in hot-pants the other day and Kagura's belly button was for all the world to see today because, she claimed, that the school was too hot and she took off the overlying sweater. Never mind that Maname was wearing a tube top underneath her jacket - which she insisted on wearing over he shoulders. It doesn't stop with the girls, either. I'm constantly telling the boys to put the hoods of their sweatshirts down. They keep pulling it up as far back as they can but still remain on their heads and say, 'But it's not on!' as if they think they can fool me."

"Oh, good, it's not just me," Asuma said, typing rapidly on his computer as he tried to make note of what they wanted to say on the newsletter. "One of the boys actually said I was too old to understand. Brat."

"I see you're already starting to take after the Old Man," Kakashi said blithely.

"Keep that up and you'll be spitting tobacco out of your mouth for a week," he threatened in reply.

"Aw," Iruka said lightly, rolling his ever-present pen in his hand, "too ashamed to admit Sandaime-sama is you're dad?"

"Shut up," Asume grumbled, still typing away. "What else do you want to add to the newsletter?" he added, trying to change topic. But it was too late.

"You see," Kakashi said to the puzzled-looking science teacher. "Our favorite math teacher over there, had a really big daddy-complex on his old man, the Old Man. After untold years apart where they didn't even speak to each other, Go-sama decided to heal the rift and has been attached to the old man's hip ever since. Even decided to teach at the same school."

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it!" Asuma shouted, his face a healthy shade of red. Iruka was hiding his giggles behind his hand.

Gai, having only just returned and therefore not hearing the majority of the conversation, reflected on how to react before putting on his Admonishment of Youth voice and crying out, "For shame, Asuma-sensei! That you would dare deface your illustrious image of a prodigious mathematics teacher by using such reprehensible language! I weep for the students you teach!"

They all burst out laughing at that point. They offered a few more topics for the newsletter and Asuma began typing it up before another curse left his lips. "Oh, fuckity fuck!"

"Now what?" Kakashi asked, looking up and lowering his book. Language like that was reserved only for the worst of situations.

"Ryoko's mother's emailed me," he said, banging a fist on the desk so hard the knick-knacks shook and toppled over. "She wants a goddamn extra credit assignment for her daughter to 'keep her grades up.' I've told her over and over and _over_ that I do_not_ give extra credit. Ryoko should focus on getting in all her missing work first before I even _consider_ giving her extra credit. That girl has her mother wrapped around her finger! One or two tears and suddenly I'm some kind of evil incarnate!" He paused, before adding, "She's carboned this to you, Iruka, you can vomit with me." He stood up. "I need a cigarette," he said, disappearing after picking up a pack from his desk.

There was a moment of silence.

"I just love parents, don't you?" Kakashi said cheerily.

"Remind me again why we don't just kidnap the kids and raise them ourselves?" Iruka asked rhetorically.

The Old Man dropped by not long after, apparently the email had been forwarded to him as well, and he wanted to know what it was all about. Iruka filled him in quickly, Sandaime nodding at the appropriate times and fingering his empty pipe - a habit hauntingly similar to Asuma's. Kakashi was getting curious about what else could happen, but the bell finally rang and they all dispersed to their F period classes.

After school was the department meeting, and Kakashi sat for an hour in a room still decorated for Christmas listening to seven other teachers _still_ bitch and complain about NCLB and national and state standards and the ever shrinking budget and other things that supposedly tied their hands. Kakashi, himself, never thought of it as hand tying (well, except for the budget. That was just a pain) but rather scaffolding meant to be abused for that exact purpose. It may have changed how he taught once in a while, but overall he felt that the changes were for the better.

After that he meandered back into his room and saw Sakura was again sitting in front of his desk. He blinked, processing the site, before saying, "Was there a student council meeting I forgot about?"

Sakura looked up, startled. "Oh, uh, hi, sensei," she murmured. "I thought you'd gone home for the day."

"Well, I haven't," he said slowly, but lightly. "But then, I think you were hoping I'd still be here."

She started slightly, as if she were caught, and quickly tried to cover that fact. "No, nothing like that at all, sensei," she said. "I had some homework to do in math, and after Asuma-sensei explained it to me I just thought I'd work on it here. It's not as noisy, so..." Her thought trailed off, unable to finish itself because Sakura hadn't thought any farther.

"Hmn," the Scarecrow replied. "I see. Could you wait a minute? It seems I forgot something." Excuse rendered, he left his room again and poked his head into Asuma's room. Naruto was there, significantly calmed down after taking his medication at lunch, as was Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru. The blonde girl was looking particularly snide and self satisfied, and Kakashi was able to add a few things together. He stole a pen from Asuma and returned to his room.

Sitting down, he wiggled his mouse to turn his computer screen on and opened his planner up. Checking email, he wrote down the midterm schedule in his planner and wrote down various reminders for the following week. Sakura kept working in front of his desk, struggling through the problems one at a time and remaining silent. Kakashi continued to broadcast approachability, but the student council member did not even look up.

Finally, Kakashi decided to go digging on his own. "Bus?" he asked.

Sakura looked up. "I'm sorry?"

"Are you going to take the bus?" Kakashi stated more clearly. "Or are you going to walk home?"

Apprehension and shame spread through Sakura in equal parts as she looked down, trying to hide her face. "I'll probably walk," she said, trying and failing to sound indifferent about it all.

"It's twenty-odd degrees out there, Sakura. It's in the single digits in the morning."

"I know. I... I need the exercise."

"That's what gym class is for."

"..." Sakura couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse.

"You know you can come to me if anything is bothering you, Sakura," he said in soft tones, trying again.

"I... I know," she replied. "But... I think... I think I need to do this on my own. I can't be much good to them if I can't solve something as simple as this on my own."

A measured look fell across Kakashi's face, and again Sakura could not hold his gaze. The English teacher was starting to get an inkling as to what, or at least who, was causing the problem. "Sakura," he said slowly, "simple problems sometimes have the most difficult, most painful solutions. Being part of a team doesn't mean you shoulder everyone's burden, it also means that they shoulder yours." He paused, an idea coming to him, and he picked up his phone. "Asuma-sensei? Could you send Naruto in for a minute? Thanks."

He hung up the phone to see Sakura's stricken face, her green eyes wide in something between terror and guilt. Without another word she gathered up her things and took off, nearly running down Naruto on the way. "Move it, idiot!" she shouted over her shoulder as she took off down the hall.

Naruto yelled after her, but then came in. "What'd you want, sensei?" he asked.

Kakashi, however, was frowning. "Nothing, Naruto. Apparently nothing."

* * *

The pink haired student council secretary patently avoided him the rest of the week. Even in class, as soon as he got remotely near her she started some kind of erstwhile conversation with Sasuke, or poured over her notes or worksheet and ignored him. Her shyness spread through the other classes, everyone noticing her sudden silence, her reserved and almost tentative attitude. 

The teachers were not the only ones, either. Naruto and Sasuke, her teammates, knew something was going on, and they, too, joined with Kakashi in the attempts of cornering her and trying to get a word out of her. Her silent response was to be close to Hinata, the two whispering back and forth in nervous tones. Tsunade came - twice - to pester Kakashi about what was going on but he could offer nothing. He had suspicions by now, certainly, Ino's satisfied grin whenever Sakura avoided Sasuke was a little too obvious, and Temari, too, occasionally seemed smug about something. But with no proof, Kakashi could only try to be there for her, be approachable and offer a gentle smile. He wanted very badly for something to happen in public, so he would have an excuse to do something more proactive.

Thursday rolled around, and as Kakashi drove into his new parking space, something dark was churning in his stomach. He sipped his coffee only briefly as he stepped into the school, his mind circling around Sakura and what he suspected her problems to be. Iruka had, as always, opened his door for him, and Kakashi stepped in.

It was on his board, scrawled in red and blue marker.

On Xmas break  
Did Sakura take  
Not one but two  
Boys Boys Boys!

And then,

Haruno Sakura  
Didn't know the dad  
Had to kill it  
Before daddy learnt she was bad

Along with,

The slut whore bitch tramp hussy Sakura already had two abortions!

Like in November with Sasuke, too many things were rolling through Kakashi's mind as he started at the atrocities. The attache case dropped to his side as he glared at the effrontery. Anger rolled through him in waves, enough that he was physically shaking. He could feel himself become darker and darker; he was imagining the author of these slanders, whoever it was twelve years old or no, and running a serrated hunting knife into his or her belly, of the blood seeping out of the wound and dripping off the handle, of the deliciously satisfying shrieks of agony as...

He was too angry to deal with this. He couldn't handle this objectively, he realized. He was remembering his own childhood, his own ostracizing, what was written about him on boards and splayed across his notebook and scratched into his locker. Too angry, so delegate the task to someone else. Someone who could speak for him. The obvious choice was Gai but how to get him? He could sense the kids behind him, his Homeroom watching him in growing fascination and horror, wondering what he would do as he glared holes into his whiteboard. He was so angry he could not picture getting someone to help him. They were too morbidly interested in seeing whom he was going to kill, either that or, like Hinata at her desk, too petrified to move.

He did the only thing he could do, considering he knew with cold certainty that as soon as he left the vicious words would be erased.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAII!!"

His voice was a whiplash, not only his room but also the hall outside snapping to silence. The Green Beast appeared almost instantaneously, running to his friend. He saw the defecation of Kakashi's board and he, too, glared at it menacingly as anger boiled up in him.

"Find out who did it," Kakashi said, his voice so quiet that not even the oppressive silence of the students could hear exactly what he said. "Make them hurt," he added, his viciousness hissing out of his teeth.

Gai stared at Kakashi, not having seen - no one _ever_ having seen - the English teacher this angry. It was only barely reigned in, and Kakashi knew himself well enough to know that it would burst forth, without mercy and without care, on everyone around him. Gai sensed this as well, reading all the signs, and bravely put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Find her," he said simply, before turning around. "I would know who committed this treacherous act of slander!"

The hand had been all Kakashi needed, his feet carried him out of the room of their own volition, rage rolling off him and virtually pushing the people aside so that he would not have to. His mind, too, was starting to work again, now that it had a task rather than stare at that... at that...

He had to find Sakura. She was undoubtedly here and had undoubtedly seen the effrontery. Where would she go?

His first stop was to the health office, but Tsunade was not there, having been called to deal with a child who had fallen and hit their head on a desk in fifth grade. The secretaries all said that they had not seen the pink haired girl, so Kakashi stormed off, entering the office. Shizune visibly shrank back as he approached, his feelings still too volatile to pull them in completely. She hadn't seen Sakura either. Sandaime and Jiraiya stepped out, having sensed Kakashi's currently overwhelming presence, as did the Snake.

"What's happened?" the Old Man asked.

"Call Gai, he can tell you without burning your ears off," Kakashi said darkly. It was too soon for him to try and act civil.

Orochimaru slithered up. "Whatever is the matter, Kakashi-sensei? Is a student giving you trouble? Perhaps you would like to blame me for your misfortune? Or make up more lies about me?"

The glare Kakashi gave the guidance counselor would have made lesser men piss their pants, but he dared not say anything, he was too angry. Instead he stormed out of the office, going around to the back of the gym and forcing himself to breathe slowly. He needed to think, he was a genius for a reason, damn it, he should know where Sakura would hide.

He stopped, closing his eyes. Tsunade was out, Sasuke and Naruto (and he) were too close, and she did not want to burden them with her problems. She was trying to handle it herself; the poor thing, and no doubt by now had a dozen pages of notes on the bullying she was enduring. This was too much, however. So where would she hide? Where would any student hide?

Music room. It was so obvious Kakashi wondered why he did not think of it before. The music teacher had prep first period this semester, and often came in late. The room's lock was broken, and often students were seen sneaking in and out during that first period. This would be no different. Destination set, Kakashi opened his eyes and walked back around the gym and down the main hall to the far end. He passed by the band room, but no one was in there, and so he went to the chorus room next.

He almost didn't see her.

The music room was smaller than the band room; carpeted and always uncomfortably warm because of a malfunctioning heater. The three-tiered steps that the various choruses would stand on wrapped around half the room, and maybe two-dozen desks crammed into the other half. Behind the steps was the teacher's desk, cluttered to overflowing with books, folders, spare instruments or their cases, videos, CDs, etc. Sakura was on the floor, leaning next to that desk and hidden by the chorus tiers. A loud sniffle was her only giveaway.

Kakashi pulled his head out of the room, taking a deep breath and willing his anger to go away, to be pushed aside. The last thing this girl needed was anger, and with great effort he reined it in, pulled it back, and stacked it neatly in the back of his mind. Another deep breath, and he put on a neutral face and more noisily opened the door, announcing his presence. Sakura snapped to attention, seeing him and furiously scratching her tears away with the sleeve of her burgundy sweater. Kakashi closed the door behind him and picked up the phone that was right next to it.

"Iruka? I found her."

"Her who? Kakashi, what the hell is goi--"

"I'm going to need a sub. First period at least. You know what we're doing, hand off the lesson plans."

"What?! Kakashi I'm not a maid that you--"

But the English teacher had hung up. He climbed the chorus tiers easily and hopped three feet down to the floor behind it. Without ceremony, he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Sakura, tentatively leaning back to see if the tiers would take his weight before finally slouching against them. "You know," he said slowly, again keeping his voice and face neutral, "I remember something a few months ago. A boy was trying to keep a secret because he thought he could handle it on his own. He didn't think it was all that big and didn't want to trouble people with it. He was actually embarrassed about it, because he couldn't solve it on is own."

"You're talking about Sasuke-kun, aren't you, Kakashi-sensei." It was a statement, not a question.

"I also recall another boy, at the beginning of the year; who just thought that if he came to school really early then the problems would all go away. Whenever he had problems he went to school in hopes they would go away."

He turned and looked at Sakura. "Neither of them realized that their problems were too big to handle on their own." He paused, letting the words sink in. "I also seem to recall telling a certain girl that simple problems can have painful solutions, that being part of a team meant sharing the burden."

"I know, sensei, I know," she said, fighting back a whimper. "I really thought I could do it on my own. I didn't want to trouble them, get them any more involved than they already are." Two great tears slid down her cheeks, and she again ran her already damp sleeve over it, reddening her face even further.

The Scarecrow let her have her cry; he'd never been very good with tears, and so he just sat there and waited it out, trying to broadcast comfort, calm, support. He remembered his own childhood, so many grades ahead of everyone else, and the fear and jealously and hatred of him and his brains. Even in college, the place where "you can just be yourself," the great experience that everyone seemed to love, often had the students in their twenties throwing odd looks at this barely pubescent teen. He remembered them trying to drag him to a party, trying to get him drunk, and their shock when he flatly told them that he wasn't going to have any of it and walked away. He remembered the martial arts lessons, because in middle and high school everyone wanted to beat him up.

He shook his head, refocusing his thoughts on Sakura. Her sobs were starting to ebb, and at last Kakashi felt it was all right to ask,

"When did this all start?"

Sakura sniffed, a noisy, ugly sound. "I don't know. The beginning of the year I guess. When you put me in Sasuke-kun's team Ino was so jealous. She and the other girls were constantly accusing me of monopolizing his time." She smiled, self deprecatingly. "I probably was. But I didn't care, they were just jealous because I was with Sasuke-kun. But, after I started to learn about him, after I started to actually _see_ him..." Her voice trailed off, thoughts and memories, no doubt, filtering through her mind.

"I couldn't take what they were saying. It wasn't true, and they didn't understand the way I did. I tried to make them, without betraying their trust in me, but that only made them madder. It got worse over break. They found out that Naruto and Sasuke-kun stayed over Christmas Day, and they just went nuts. Did you see what was written on the board?"

Kakashi's fist clenched by his side, out of Sakura's sight, and he dug his nails in to prevent his anger from coming out. "Yes," he said in a level voice.

"They've been accusing me of that since break. Sensei, it hurt, it really, really hurt. If they knew me, if they knew Sasuke-kun, if they knew Naruto, then they wouldn't...!"

"Oh, they would," Kakashi said. "What 'they' said doesn't really matter, Sakura; all they're trying to do is hurt you, and 'they' will use anything that can be viewed as a weapon, even your precious Sasuke, Naruto, womanhood, looks, whatever they have at their disposal. I'm sure they've said disparaging things about your looks, your choice of friends, your family, and your intelligence. I wouldn't be surprised if they spread a rumor that you were cheating to get good grades, that so long as it's a boy you'll happily invite them over for a sleepover, or something else equally as childish. 'They' don't even realize what they're saying is hurting more than you, it's hurting the rest of your team." He paused, gauging by her various blushes and winces that he'd been right on all counts. "Do they know what's happening to you?"

"...No," Sakura said. "And I don't want them to. They've been through so much, the last thing they need are to hear about my problems."

"It affects them, too," Kakashi pointed out.

"But I'm the only example of stability, right?" she asked, a weak, sad smile on her face.

"Sakura," Kakashi admonished, "you can't be perfect. Even children from the most stable environments have difficulties. Even they have problems they can't deal with on their own. It's actually better for Sasuke and Naruto if they knew." At her startled look he continued, "It gives them the chance to take what they've learned from you and apply it. It gives them a chance to be _your_ stability, and you'll be surprised at how surprised they are that they can manage it. Fairly well, if I were to wager a guess."

Sakura frowned, her pink head dipping down as she considered the words. The two sat together for a long time, Kakashi waiting until he felt a firm fist-hold of calm wrap around her. When he did, he finally asked, "So, do you want to try and face the day?"

Glumly, the student council secretary nodded before opening up her bag and pulling out a spiral-ring binder. "Would you know what to do with this?" she asked.

Kakashi opened up the binder and was only mildly surprised when he saw what was inside. When he had told her to take notes, she had indeed been very diligent, even calling back to the beginning of the year, writing down approximate dates and what period when things were said. In the margins there were notes on proximity, whether it happened repeatedly, and other little tidbits that the girl had remembered to make it as accurate as possible. There were also water stains on some of the pages, no doubt tear marks. The more recent events were recorded more neatly, some with exact timestamps.

"Yes, Sakura, I'd know what to do with this. You'll probably be called down to guidance, you know."

"Then let's go now so I can make an appointment," she said softly. "I need to get back to class."

"Who's your counselor?"

"Orochimaru-sensei."

The growl was only barely suppressed, and he again balled up his hidden hand into a fist before he openly snarled. "We'll make it with Jiraiya," he said, "he's better equipped for these kind of occurrences. Come on."

Kakashi easily stood up, his rear completely asleep from sitting for so long and turned to look at the clock. Halfway through A period; he was certain Shizune and Iruka were going to let him have it, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. He turned to Sakura, who still looked horrible. Her face was pinker than her hair and her cheeks were damp, red outlined her swollen eyes, and her nose was still slightly runny. "Do you want to stop by the nurse first?" he asked diplomatically.

"No, not yet. During lunch maybe," she said. "I really want to get back to class. Kurenai-sensei is supposed to go over her test review, and I've missed too much of it already."

Nodding, the two climbed the chorus tiers and left the music room, Kakashi gently steering her to the main office and Jiraiya's room. "We need to make an appointment," Kakashi said lightly. "In the meantime, you need to take a look at this," and he dropped the notebook on the Toad Sage's desk. Jiraiya threw only a glance at it before leveling a calm look at Sakura.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this no--"

"I'm sure, Jiraiya-sensei. When can I see you? I have a review right now and a test in math next period. During lunch I want to see Tsunade-sama, and there's a Jeopardy review in English."

"Alright," he said, "How about C period?"

Sakura made the appointment and, as she turned to leave, Jiraiya gave a look between annoyed and amused to Kakashi. The Scarecrow only bowed his head before following his student out the door. He walked Sakura right into Kurenai's science room, mouthing the word "later" to her questioning look. He wandered into his own room and thanked the sub before nicely kicking her to her next crisis.

Fourth period came and went with no Sakura in sight, her meeting with Jiraiya clearly having extended longer than they had thought. Sasuke felt her absence keenly, and Naruto kept sticking his head in to see if she was there. The writing on the board, whether they had seen it or not, had spread through the entire grade, and with Sakura late for science (and no doubt answering no questions to the concerned Naruto) and now missing for two periods, the two were left to worry and speculate on their own.

When the bell rang and the students filtered off to their specials, Kakashi debated on summoning the two before finally doing so.

"You know what's happening," Sasuke accused, his eyes darker than normal.

"Yes. Yes I do," Kakashi said, his tone was light, but there was no misunderstanding the depth behind it, either. "Sakura won't be seeing you at lunch, I thought you should know."

"Then where is she?" Naruto demanded, his rough voice rising with each word.

"By then she'll probably be talking to someone in the health room."

Sasuke, who hadn't seen the girl all day, suddenly looked almost stricken. "Is she hurt?" he demanded, leaning in over the desk.

"Not in the way you think," Kakashi replied. "She's wrestling with something right now, and I want the two of you to let her come to you."

The pair looked at each other, looked suspiciously at their sensei, and then back again. It was all very sweet, but Kakashi had other things to do, so he wrote out their passes and kicked them out of his room. He stopped at the cafeteria briefly to grab a light lunch - he didn't feel overly hungry - and meandered over to team.

"You're late!" Iruka cried out, more annoyed than normal. "And I'm not your damn maid!"

He stared at the special ed teacher, and then remembered the comment from their phone conversation that morning. "Oh, sorry about that," he said genially as he sat down. "I was in the middle of a crisis. I'm sure by now it's blowing up in the seventh grade's face."

Everyone in Asuma's room took a chance to blink.

"I want another piece in the newsletter," Kakashi said, sitting perfectly straight, "about bullying."

"Ah, she finally came forward," Asuma said, grinning. "After what was written on your board, I guess she would have had to."

"Then that was all true?" Iruka asked. "I was at the office at the time. The kids were saying that you were screaming blue murder or something, that there were threats written on your board."

"Alas, the students are not far from exaggeration," Gai stepped in. "There were indeed vicious slanders that defaced my Eternal Rival's whiteboard, and his anger was such that his voice silenced the entire grade when he summoned me, the Green Beast, to his assistance; he harried off in search of our flowering victim whilst I investigated as to who the vile perpetrators were that our esteemed English teacher could unleash his wrath upon him or her!"

Kakashi picked up the narrative, finding Gai's somewhat flowery speech irrationally annoying, and gave the verbatim on where he found Sakura and what they talked about. "No doubt the Old Man and Jiraiya are pulling the kids one by one to get to the bottom of this."

"Ah, that's why Temari was taken from my SSR," Asuma said, fingering a nonexistent cigarette. "And Kankuro, too."

"It sounds like Sakura was deliberately trying to hide from the girls," Kurenai said, "so they wouldn't do anything to her."

"She's smart like that," Kakashi said, finally slouching in his chair. "But so long as we're putting in blurbs about dress code, we might as well remind parents about bullying, drive home the fact that some of their kids aren't as pure white as they think."

The rest of the period was spent on the newsletter, going through several revisions before everyone was happy with the wording, and Iruka, stiff with the cold, went off to make copies and start easing out the aches in his body. The bell rang, and Kakashi made straight for his room, unlocking it and turning the lights on before rewriting his Jeopardy board. After school he was going to take disinfectant to that board, about three coats sounded right, before he could be satisfied that the soil was removed.

Everyone filtered in, the buzz being that so many kids were being called to the office. Sakura tried very hard to look invisible as she filed in, taking her assigned seat and pulling out her notebook without a sound. Sasuke and Naruto were immediately upon her, Naruto demanding answers in a harsh whisper while Sasuke stared at her openly. She looked up to them and seemed almost to burst into tears again, but she closed her eyes and gathered her strength. "Not now, not here," she whispered. "After school."

Chouji, sitting closest to them, apparently heard the whisper because he said, "Oooh, getting your harem back to your place again, Sakura-chan? When am I invited?"

Before Kakashi could react - and all things considered, that was a feat in itself - Naruto spun around and slammed a fist on Chouji's desk. "How dare you say something like that about Sakura-chan!" he yelled. "Do you have any idea what the hell you're even talking about?! You don't; so don't go pretending like you do! You don't know anything! About me, about Sasuke-teme, and especially about Sakura!! She's the nicest girl in the whole world and if you_ever_ say something like that again I'll knock your teeth out!!"

Sasuke added quietly, "That goes for anyone else." His voice was almost as dark as Kakashi's thoughts had been. Almost.

The class was silent, just like Homeroom earlier, but this time Kakashi was in complete control. "Naruto, detention for language, Sasuke, detention for threats. Call your guardians, I'm serving them both today because I won't be here tomorrow. Chouji, to Ebisu-sensei." The two of them stared at him, anger now directed at their teacher, but he calmly shrugged it off. "Now," he said, "You all know the rules of Jeopardy, so get into your groups and pull out someone's notebook and a scrap piece of paper." As the class got noisy as they moved desks and rearranged the room, Kakashi strolled over to the furious Team 7 and bent down. "Oh, and Sakura, I have a question about one of your homework assignments, could you drop by after school so we could talk about it?"

She jumped, startled and at first confused, until she realized what Kakashi was doing. "Y-yes, sensei. I'll do that."

Iruka finally arrived, his various aches feeling much better, and while the students were working on the various review questions, Kakashi filled in the special education teacher about the most recent development.

"You're making her confession to Naruto and Sasuke on school grounds, with you an adult present, so the kids can't hold this against her," he accused.

"Oh, really?" the Scarecrow replied, looking unabashedly innocent. "How convenient that it all works out that way."

The period, because the students were so busy, was blessedly quiet, as was the last period of the day. After the buses left, Kakashi watched as his beloved Team 7 slowly filter in one by one, sitting down.

"Sakura," he said softly, "I think you have something to tell these two."

It was like a dam had opened. Sakura again burst into tears - sending abject fear into both Naruto and Sasuke - and chokingly explained what she had been going through. Kakashi stayed at his desk, masking his presence and leaving them alone for the most part; but he could not help but grin as he watched Sasuke's face grow darker and darker as Sakura recounted the increasingly horrible things that were said to and about her; as he watched Naruto constantly interrupt her with shouts of retribution and getting back at those horrible bitches (Kakashi cleared his throat at that point, and the orange clad youth quickly curbed his language).

"Dam--Darn it we should have been there for you!" Naruto finally cried out. "Why didn't you tell us about this! We could have fought for you! We could have--"

"But you two have been through so much already," she said weakly, unable to maintain eye contact.

"There's a difference between going through something and_choosing_ to _do_ something," Sasuke said in soft, dark tones.

Sakura stared at the two of them and cried even more. The two leaned in closer, uncertain what to do but wanting to do something. Scribbling, Kakashi quickly held up a sign that said, "Try hugging her!" But unfortunately the two made disgusted faces and backed away. Ah, well. Youth.

He quietly got up and let the three of them have their moment, instead wandering over to Kurenai's corner and poking his head in. The science teacher was alone save for one timid little girl; Hinata worked at a desk, pouring over her textbook and her notes in preparation for Friday's test. Kurenai looked up questioningly, but Kakashi's thumbs up made her smile widely.

"U-uhm, Kurenai-sensei, I have a question..." Hinata raised her hand tentatively.

"Good luck, Hinata," Kakashi said cheerily. "Don't forget my test tomorrow, too!"

He blinked when he saw Hinata pale visibly. "Y-yes, sensei, I will. I mean, I won't. I mean... uh..." She was nearly trembling, here eyes darting from her textbook to the notebook to Kurenai-sensei to himself. "I'll try my best," she finally said lamely.

"That's all I can ask for," Kakashi said happily, deciding to not acknowledge her open display of fear.

Even as something was going right in one room, something was going wrong in another.

Kakashi almost wished he didn't have to drive to the university the next day for professional development.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** If we haven't said it before, that definition for bullying was pulled word for word from several different student handbooks. We were bullied in school, and many of you probably were, and all I can say as a student is that kids can be ridiculously cruel. As a teacher I can say that it's not as obvious as is sometimes thought. Bullying occurs most often in halls or at lunch or after school when the noise is so loud that individual conversations can't be heard, or are out of earshot from teachers. Coupled with the multi-tasking that generally goes on in a teacher's life anyway, it's not surprising that the bullied child has to come forward first. But we have absolutely no patience for it, so if you ever are bullied, do exactly what Sakura did; you'd be surprised at the results

And to curb the questions, the bullying Sakura went through included no physical bullying. If another student ever hits you, that's catagorized as assault and can be treated as such.

**Simply Manialoll:** Happy Holidays to you too, and all our other readers. (Did we say that last chapter? Meh...) We're glad you've been pulled so deeply into the story. We're sorry that you were bullied. We never want anyone to be able to relate to that, but sadly, many of you readers probably can in some way shape or form. We're also glad (and almost a little proud) that we've changed your outlook on teachers a little bit. It's very hard to find fanfiction that has teachers done well, or even in other media such as TV shows, cartoons, etc. Research, research, research. It helps make a story more accurate and more enjoyable to read. Then drawing from personal experience, such as we have, can add a layer that people may not even be aware of. At least, that's our thoughts on writing.

**Ryuu-chan:** Yes, the chapters are about one week. But we just wanted to write about one school week. As a teacher, you don't really see your students on vacation, especially if Kakashi is cooped up in his house. You don't even see your coworkers, so to move the story along better, we just abbreviated the vacation. The same will happen to February and April vacation.

**Dochii:** We're glad to have made you happy. Ah yes Kiba. He really _is_ going through a lot that we're not seeing. Don't worry, it will be very forcefully brought to the foreground and he won't be willing to discuss it much. But that won't be right away, but it will be in on the near horizon. Well, hopefully, Sakura's issues have been put to light after this chapter. ...The little Sand trio ARE siblings? Oh... Um... Yeah, we haven't seen that much of the series or read that much of the manga... (just what's being shown on Cartoon Network, the series itself is to long to invest THAT much money...) Mirror hides face behind hands while Image looks to floor. ahem Well, color us embarassed. Suffice to say, they're unrelated in this little AU. ...Us? A public service? more blushing Our little therapy fic must really be something for readers to reccommend us as a must-read to other readers like that...

**InoShikaCho**: After Sakura's little arc here, Ino will calm a bit and start growing once we get into Chouji's arc. nods Bullying is never portrayed satisfactorily in various media versions. This was our take on it, based on various experiences. You'd never categorize Sakura as a vicitim, when you look at how bright and self-assured she is. Plus, she fights back. But these words hurt nonetheless, and enough of them over time can wear you down. Sakura, who's been putting up with it since October, was getting sick of it. Now, after Christmas, it starts to get worse and she's reaching the breaking point. points up Thus, this chapter occured, finally bringing everything to light.

**Spider Wench**: Don't worry about Sakura. Good things are definately heading her way now that she has Naruto and Sasuke. She'll be very surprised in the next chapter. Don't worry, we won't forget about you. One of your previous replies ended up being written into the story. You'll be getting praise, come Bloody April.

Thank you to all our readers.


	20. Week 19

**January: Week Nineteen**

**Author's Note: IMPORTANT**. Thursday night, we had to rush our mother to the hospital. She is currently in a coma and they're talking to us about brain damage. We will be unable to take the time for personal review responses at the end as we normally do, and this might have typos as we're only taking a quick break before going back to the ICU. Sorry about any disruptions this causes you as our readers.

* * *

Professional days, Kakashi reflected on his ride in Monday, were having a theme of Not Working this year. Between missed days to the hellish comedy of errors his last full-day professional day was, he really shouldn't have been surprised that Friday had gone poorly as well. He was supposed to go to an English workshop at the local university. Ebisu himself had gone to Kakashi and mentioned the professional day, so the Scarecrow had volunteered to go. No big deal, right? Well, as it turned out, the university had double-booked their consortium. Not only was a teacher workshop scheduled there, but also some bigwig meeting about filing things and how it's important to accountants or some other rigmarole that Kakashi could care less about. So who got the consortium? The high-paying bigwigs of course. So all the teachers were shuffled outside, into the biting wind to a place called the Pavilion. The Pavilion was clearly designed to be used three out of four seasons, winter being the one season it wasn't properly outfitted for. It was a large enclosure with a wooden gazebo-like ceiling and several large thick posts supported it. Between the posts were currently plane glass windows, which while stopping the arctic wind, radiated the cold. Since the university was nestled in the hills, the open windows did provide a nice view of the blinding white open valley-hill expanse. 

To try and make up for the sub-freezing temperature, the university was nice enough to provide sparking space-heaters that only worked in small areas and with plugs where Kakashi was certain he saw the wires were almost completely worn in half. And with teachers who had to trudge through the snow to get there, well, the concrete floor definitely had puddles on it. With water and worn wiring, Kakashi was worried. So, after seeing the conditions, he went back to his car, pulled out the spare clothes he always had in case he got stranded in snow and had to dig out, and changed into a pair of thick warm jeans, heavy work boots, and switched his good coat with a heavy lined wool flannel and buried his hands in his pockets.

As if that wasn't enough, when he wandered back into the Pavilion, he realized that this conference was geared more for special education in English than actual English, which meant that _Iruka_ was the better choice for this workshop. Damn Ebisu and his inability to be clear. Still, Kakashi was able to pull some useful tidbits and gather plenty of pamphlets. But overall, it was a closer to a waste of time.

Therefore, the Scarecrow left early, warmed himself immensely in his car, dropped off at the school on his way home and picked up the tests his sub had given out, and spent his afternoon doing more useful things like grading.

When he finally got to his new parking space Monday morning, he made a beeline for the office and dropped off the pamphlets he'd gathered into Iruka's mailbox. He popped his head briefly into Ebisu's office, but no one was there, and wandered down to homeroom.

As usual, Iruka had opened his door. As unusual, however, both Naruto and Sasuke were in his homeroom, chatting with Sakura. He smiled at them as he squeezed by the couch to his desk and turned on his computer. While he went about getting set, pulling out the tests, checking his stacks of papers to make sure he had enough review packets for today and tomorrow before midterms started Wednesday, etc, Sakura came up to his desk.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Kakashi-sensei, how is it you know us so well?"

"Oh?"

"You said that Sasuke-kun and Naruto would support me."

"Have they?"

She snorted. "'Have they?' he asks." She launched into a story on how Friday, some of the students were starting to say some disparaging things to her on the bus and Sasuke and Naruto were appalled once more when she shared what happened once she got to school. The result was that neither of them left her side at any chance they could for the remainder of the day, and when they dropped her off at a class where they wouldn't be, Sasuke would glare out across the room with full intimidation. Why, just this morning, while Sakura was waiting at the end of her street with Ino and some of the other girls who were troubling her, Naruto came running down the street, out of breath, talking about how he missed his bus and that Yondaime had to drop him off there because it was on his way to work (which Sakura stated flatly was completely false) and kept her company and distracted for the whole ride into school, where Sasuke was waiting at the main entrance.

Kakashi really couldn't help but smile.

"Oh yeah," Sakura said, running a hand through her short hair. "My parents want to come in and talk to everyone. I think they emailed you over the weekend about it."

"You were keeping this from them too?" he raised a hidden eyebrow.

Sakura blushed and looked down. "I thought I--"

"--could handle it yourself," he finished. "And now?"

She glared at him. "So I need help. I have it. And support."

"Speaking of, Sasuke and Naruto are looking a little lonely without you at the moment."

"Sensei!" she growled, then smiled, before turning back to go to her seat.

"Make sure they've checked in with Asuma-sensei, that's not my job," he called out to her. She chuckled as she sat down with Naruto and Sasuke and started up a conversation about how Sasuke was _finally_ going to get the cast off his wrist next week.

Glancing out over his homeroom, Kakashi noticed Hinata looked far more nervous than usual and he made a mental note to talk to her during class, or perhaps getting Kurenai to speak with her. However, he was distracted when he opened his email.

The phrase "a lot" didn't cover it very well. Many parents had emailed him over the weekend about concerns regarding why their child had been called in to the office. He expected Ino's and Temari's parents, as well as from the parents of the other kids who were bullying Sakura, but he even had emails from parents whose children were called in as witnesses.

Those at least, were easy to handle. He made a generic email in a text window explaining how there was a report of bullying and the child was merely needed to corroborate the events that took place. The bully-parents would be harder, and he would have to wait till his prep to deal with it.

* * *

The first two periods went by as usual, with Kakashi's A Period getting an A Period Excellence. During his prep C period, he started replying to emails, one by one. Sakura's parents were the easiest. They wanted to know what was being done so he told them. He even invited them to come in if they still had questions or concerns. The bully-parents took longer to compose because they required delicate wording. 

He inched his way down the parent list for most of C period, not even getting a chance to make copies of the Homework Tickets his first period would be begging for the following day. So, when he went to lunch later on, he had a folder full of papers that he needed for copying. The perfect excuse to irritate Iruka, certainly.

Unhappy that the faculty copier was busted _again_, Kakashi wandered down to the office to use their copier. No more than two steps into the office than the Old Man stepped out.

"Ah, Kakashi," he greeted. "I realize you must be busy, but if you could come with me for a moment?"

Taking a moment to look mournfully down at his copy pile, he nodded and followed Sandaime into the Guidance Department and into their conference room. Inside was a blond woman, tall and elegant, with sharp blue eyes. There was no doubt in Kakashi's mind who she was. Yamanaka Ino's mother.

"Yo," he greeted, slouching into the doorframe. "I just sent off an email to you a few hours ago. I wasn't aware you were coming in."

"Please, Kakashi-sensei, have a seat." Sandaime sat down stiffly in one of the chairs, his age somehow showing more thoroughly in his slow jerky movement than in his aged face. "And don't worry about your meeting, I've had Shizune call up. They know you'll be detained for a while."

Damn. And he'd just gotten the perfect excuse to. Ah well.

"Now then," Sandaime continued, "would you mind repeating what you discussed with me on the phone on Friday?" he turned to Ino's lovely mother. "I'm afraid Kakashi-sensei wasn't here due to a professional day and I haven't had the opportunity to discuss your concerns with me."

It was all Ino's mother needed. According to her (or more likely Ino) the accusations against her daughter were false, she didn't deserve three days in ISS and a Saturday detention (Kakashi was pleased to hear that. With his being out Friday, he never had the chance to find out if anything had been done yet.), that Sakura was the one bullying Ino, and on and on and on. There came a point when the Scarecrow just tuned out, letting the allegations sink into the back of his brain to sort through later. Right about now, all he wanted was his book.

When she finally seemed to take a break, Kakashi interrupted to avoid any more long-winded misconceptions.

"Yamanaka-san," he interjected, "as a teacher I've seen many kinds of parents. Good parents, enabling parents, oblivious parents, poor parents, bad parents, an entire spectrum that can't be fully identified or labeled. You, as you have proven, are a good parent. You're concerned about your daughter and you want to make sure her side is heard. You want to make sure that she is treated fairly and if she is at fault, that our punishment fits her crime."

Given that Kakashi had turned his charm up to full, Ino's mother paused, his words cutting through her temper. There was an ever so faint blush on her cheeks as she smiled slightly, saying, "Why thank you."

"Now, your daughter has had detentions, correct?"

"Oh yes," she replied, nodding. "I admit that she can have a very fast mouth that gets her grounded at home. She's not really a trouble maker, but she can talk before she thinks."

"I agree. All of her detentions with me have been due to her saying, shall we say, not nice things." Sandaime smiled beside him. "Now, whenever we are presented with a case of bullying, we have some very strict definitions that need to be met before we classify something as such. I'm sure that Sandaime-sama has explained these to you."

"Yes, we discussed them Friday."

Kakashi nodded. "Good, did he mention the documentation we have?"

To this, the mother snorted, the gesture still looking lovely and elegant. "One girl's word against mine. How do you know that this Sakura didn't start each incident? My daughter may have a fast mouth, but she isn't cruel."

A quick glance at the clock. "Then why don't we try this? Her class is coming up in about ten minutes. Why don't you come in and observe?"

Ino's mother came up short. Taking a full minute to roll the idea around in her mind. "I need to call and rearrange things, I have an appointment coming up, but yes. I think I'd like to observe."

"You can make the calls from my room, if you wish."

She nodded, standing up gracefully. "Lead the way."

Kakashi dropped her off in his room and told her how to get an outside line while he hurried back to team.

"This will be interesting," he said, not even slumping into his seat. "Ino's mother is going to watch with us, Iruka."

"Oh!" Kurenai smiled. "That will be _very_ interesting."

"Speaking of interesting," the Scarecrow continued, "How did Hinata do on our test?"

The science teacher smiled brightly, "Two points from an A."

"She tanked mine. And I mean tanked, worse than usual." He glanced at the rest of his team. "How is Hinata doing with you?"

"The youthful Hyuuga girl does all of her work in earnest and she is passable with all of her efforts."

"She's just barely passing," Asuma sighed. "And she's been extra jumpy and twitchy lately."

"I, too, have noticed the shy girl has lost some of her youthful exuberance and is far quieter than normal." Gai crossed his arms and frowned. "She never speaks in class anymore and forever seems to be taking notes with reckless abandon. It appears our young Hinata wishes to learn dictation."

Kakashi absorbed all the comments. "Kurenai, she seems to have a small connection with you, see if you can get her to talk. I suspect that midterms are stressing her out and she could probably use a friendly ear." He glanced around. "Any other comments before Ino's mother sees her daughter's behavior?"

"Nothing major," Asuma replied. "We've been going over fundraisers in your absence and seeing how much we still need for the end of the year trip. I can give you the details after school."

The bell rang. "Sounds good."

He and Iruka walked into class together and the Scarecrow noted with a pleased smile that Ino's mother was at his desk in the back, leaning back. Most students would blink with her in there the go about their business. With Yamanaka-san's white blouse and delicate jewelry, the students were already buzzing that she was from administration to observe Kakashi and see if his eccentricities were an issue. Either that or she was from the CIA checking if Kakashi-sensei was the Kakashi they'd been sending out to spy oversees but wasn't checking in. The theories were all very amusing. Sakura recognized her, however, and was definitely hiding behind Sasuke and Naruto.

Iruka started to write the warm-up on the board and Kakashi walked past Team 7 to pretend to look for something in his desk. As the Scarecrow passed, he whispered, "She's here to see Ino," and pulled out his stack of handouts for the day's review. While Sakura hardly came out of hiding, she did seem to relax.

The first half of class was a thorough review of the first quarter's work. Kakashi and Iruka both gave out review sheets, discussed items that had more significance than others, in hopes that the students would get a clue about what would be on the midterm, and answered a few detail oriented questions. Then, Iruka took Teams 1-5 to his room as Kakashi wandered around the remaining teams. He ended up spending a long time with Team 6, since both of them were way behind in their work. Team 9 also tried to monopolize his time, but not quite as successfully. Team 8 had them all working, but Kiba was snapping and Hinata was jumping. Team 7 was working well together, though that was no surprise, and Team 10, well.

Chouji was absent again. Shikamaru definitely was looking put out with Ino, who had forgotten that her mother was behind her. Kakashi heard her talking about nighttime activities, and he looked over to see Sakura cringe ever so minutely before turning to Naruto to ask a question. Glancing over at Yamanaka-san, Kakashi noted with grim satisfaction that she had noticed it as well.

He wandered around the groups for the remainder of the period, and watched how Ino's mother's face got darker and darker. Finally, Iruka brought the rest of the class back to wrap up and Kakashi slid silently between his desk and the couch and stood in his student-free corner.

"You don't have to worry about Ino," she growled. "She'll be grounded for the rest of her life."

Kakashi tried to Not Smile.

* * *

Tuesday was full of reviews, since Midterms started the following day and Kakashi spent most of the day running around making sure had blue books for the essays, enough copies of the midterms, extras of everything, spare pens and pencils since he knew someone would end up without a back up (or even have one). Plus there was making extra worksheets for the last-minute students who were trying to hand in assignments while they could still get credit for it. To make matters more difficult, parents were continuously trying to contact him about their child getting called to the office about bullying, or trying to report bullying of their child, etc. Most were simple replies or call backs, saying that everything was under control, they just were needed to verify something, and if a child is being bullied, please call guidance since they had all the procedures. 

Really. He wanted to be left alone and get some work done.

After lunch, when he finally trudged his way up to team, he didn't bother to justify his tardiness after Iruka's irked proclamation, instead just slouching and pulling out his book.

"We had Kiba's PPT earlier," Kurenai started. "His father was late and had to leave early." Frowning, she ran a hand through her long thick hair. "He smelled of gasoline and engine oil. He was filthy. He assured us he'd washed his hands before he came, but he still smudged the table. He wouldn't talk about why Kiba's so angry, just that he's dealing with his son the best we can." She shook her head. "Incredibly frustrating."

Ah, Kurenai had finally been to a PPT. She hadn't been to any since the beginning of the year, mainly because she was trying to catch up with the complete lack of curriculum that her predecessor left, or rather, didn't leave behind. Wait a minute...

"Wasn't I supposed to go to that PPT?"

Iruka snorted. "With you running around today? I took Kurenai instead, she seems to have a connection with Kiba, in any case."

"So," Asuma asked, looking at their science teacher, "what did you learn?"

She snorted. "Not much. The dad is more tight-lipped than his son, I swear. When I listened to Kiba and Hinata talking this morning, I got the impression that money is much tighter that it usually is. Hinata was very concerned about Kiba getting food on the weekends and such."

"Shit," the math teacher growled. "No wonder he's so snappish lately. He's more concerned about making sure there's food on the table than school."

"It is a shame that such youth is unable to enjoy the time in their lives that is the shortest. It is a sad state when the children of a family do more parenting than the adults." The Green Beast leaned back, his arms crossed. "A true, true shame."

"In happier news," Asuma grinned oddly, "Ino was bitching this morning about having to be grounded for the rest of the school year for bullying. She kept complaining about how she's never seen either of her parents so mad." He laughed a smoker's laugh. "Naruto and Sasuke gave her hell for her complaining."

"Good for them," Iruka smiled. "Of course, we can't show such preferences during class, but I think it's about time she got a good slap of reality."

Kakashi nodded. "When she comes back, I hope she'll finally be willing to work with her team."

* * *

Wednesday, Kakashi was pleased to note, was very quiet. Mainly because midterms had started and he didn't have to listen to inane chatter all day. Instead, his classes were silent. Wednesday would have midterms for Periods A, B, and C, Thursday would be D, E, and F, and Friday would be G with two make-up times. This worked out well for Kakashi and his team, since Thursday the only midterm they had was during F and Friday would only be G, aside from make-ups. 

So, when C Period came around on Wednesday, Kakashi was free to start grading with the seventh grade taking finals in their specials.

Or so he thought.

No sooner had he pulled out the Scantron to grade the bubble sheets than his phone rang. It was Shizune, asking him to come down to the office, there was a parent who wanted to speak to him. The Scarecrow sighed. No doubt someone else who was concerned about all the talk of bullying and wanted his reassurance that, yes, everything was being dealt with, etc. Kakashi couldn't really complain, since if the parents were calling, it meant they cared enough about their children to be concerned. A caring parent usually stood for a better future, unless it was an enabler, but Kakashi didn't feel like pondering the social and ethical issues of parenting. He already had about a hundred kids to parent every day.

Thus, Kakashi wandered around the corner and down the hall to the office. Shizune ushered him into the conference room where he'd met with Ino's mother and he sat down with Sandaime. In front of them was a shriveled old woman, her hair thin and limp, though there were signs that it had once been bushy and curly. Her eyes were an emerald green, and though surrounded by wrinkles, maintained a sharp wit about them.

"Hello," Kakashi bowed, always slightly (slightly) more respectful to elders after what his father had drilled into him as a child. "Forgive me, I was told a parent wished to see me?"

"That was me," the old woman croaked. "Only I'm not a parent. I'm here about my granddaughter, Temari."

Ah. "I see. How can we help you?"

"Forgive me, Fanno-san," the Old Man stated. "I have not had the chance to tell Kakashi-sensei your concerns, as he's been proctoring midterms all day."

"Doesn't matter," she retorted, strength starting to come to her voice. "I raised my Temari-chan right. She's never gotten a detention before, never gotten into trouble, never had to have me called in. Now she's got this three-day detention and an extra on Saturday, when I can't drive her in because I have to be in work." She glared across the table, very much radiating an us-versus-them mentality, and Kakashi was currently in the "them" category. She was also older than he initially thought if she harkened back to the days when getting a detention meant being sent to another room. That was ISS nowadays. "I won't have it."

"Fanno-san," Sandaime started. "As I've told you before, we have documentation that she was bullying a fellow student--"

"Nonsense," she interrupted. "The word of another girl against mine. I've spoken with her and she knows better than to lie to me. This Sakura-girl is the easy type. Can charm anyone to do what she wants. The fact that most of the seventh grade teachers are men has something to do with her getting good grades and special treatment I'm sure."

Now Kakashi was insulted.

"I beg your pardon, madam," he interrupted, "but this school doesn't hire people who like children in the manner you're suggesting. By your own reasoning, then, Temari should be failing her classes. I can assure you that she's doing very well in all of her subjects. A straight honor-roll student. She even has the potential to becoming a high honor-roll student. If this school was set up the way you are suggesting--"

"Enough!" the grandmother growled. "I've seen it. I've seen it. Teachers play favorites, and I've talked to Temari's friends. It's no secret that this Sakura girl is a favorite of yours--"

Kakashi showed her the palm of his hand. "Fanno-san, I know the rumors. I hear them in class everyday. The student body seems to think that Team 7, which consists of Sakura and two others, gets special treatment over other teams. I assure you, and if you want I can go back to my room and get samples, that they work very hard together and can produce work that can be considered high-school level. Similarly, I can go and get work from Temari's team, and show you the same thing. Temari's team is incredibly intelligent and can do high-school level writing and thinking. And before you even suggest cheating, both teams always present a different thesis."

The old woman growled, taking a breath to start something before the Old Man interrupted her.

"Forgive an old man," he stated, "but this will go nowhere. Fanno-san, what do you want for your granddaughter?"

"She doesn't deserve the three-day detention. I can't drive her in for Saturday's detention."

"In that case, I am willing to reschedule her Saturday detention to an office detention after school on Monday."

"She shouldn't be in detention," the old woman snarled.

Sandaime sighed. "On that, I must disagree. We thoroughly investigated the claims, and we have more than just Sakura's word. We have witnesses, both student and faculty, to the various accounts, enough to satisfy our definition of bullying, which requires immediate attention. We have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying, and when such an extended account is documented and verified, action must be taken."

"My granddaughter _wouldn't_ do such a thing!"

"I'm sorry that we disagree on this," Kakashi stated, which was the truth. It would appear that this grandmother could see no wrong when it came to her granddaughter, which meant that Temari would have to be careful to not end up on the wrong path. Either Temari was lying to her guardian, which wasn't a good sign, or she was telling the truth as she saw it which was very skewed.

The old woman huffed, getting up with the aide of her cane, and shuffled out of the room as quickly as she could.

* * *

Needless to say, when Kakashi got back to his room, grading would be shoved aside and he'd slump into his couch to read and try and ignore the filthy feeling that Temari's grandmother had shoved on him. But no, that was not to be. The English teacher flipped the lights on in his room to find Asuma stretched out on the cushy softness, an arm over his eyes, looking more exhausted than Kakashi had seen in years. 

He paused, looking at his couch, studying his colleague. Asuma was the oldest of the team, and the most senior. But when the time came for a new team leader, Asuma had lobbied heavily for Kakashi to get the job, seeing something in him that Kakashi hadn't been entirely aware of at the time. But Asuma always kept a level of distance between himself and the team. Everything Kakashi knew about why was pieced together from fragmented conversations, talking with fellow faculty, and in-depth research that would lend credence to the student body's suspicions of his supposedly being in the CIA.

The old math department head, two years ago, was probably the most lucrative as far as basic facts and gossip about Asuma, but Kakashi didn't have a clear picture. A rough picture, but not a precise picture. Sudoku-sama had come into the school as new blood with new ideas to get the students more involved back when most of the faculty was still set in the old ways and many weren't willing to change. Asuma had been a naive young man back then, and had forged many inroads that Kakashi and later teachers had used to start turning curriculum around. However the cost was Asuma working in a hostile environment, with many feeling that he would use his own father to push through what he wanted.

When Jiraiya had mentioned that Asuma was too burned, that was putting things mildly. The Go-master had _fought_ for curriculum revisions in not only math, but all subjects, set up student-support programs, and open the lines of communication between parents and teachers. Unfortunately, he'd been shot down one too many times. Almost burned out, Asuma had stepped aside and let the newer teachers take up the battle. Aside from the inroads he'd forged, the one real legacy that Asuma had created was getting the Old Man to hire new teachers more in tune with the times and willing to change with new research.

Back when Kakashi had started teaching, Asuma remained distant until he and Gai got a good look at what their new English teacher was going through. While Gai was the most persistent in breaking down Kakashi's walls, Asuma had been the one to destroy the final barrier and get the reticent Scarecrow to talk. Life went much better for Kakashi after that. Asuma retreated to his usual distance.

The Scarecrow had learned over the years when to support Asuma and when to leave him alone. However, it always required careful observations and proactive meddling. For Sudoku-sama to come to Kakashi without prompting was a first.

He flipped the lights back off in his room, closed the blinds to block out the afternoon sun, and squeezed between Asuma and his desk to slouch in his chair, waiting.

The math teacher glanced out from underneath his arm, and sighed. Kakashi noted the cigarette dangling from his lips, unlit.

"Thought you'd be pouring over all those damn essays by now."

"I got pulled down to meet with the Old Man and Temari's grandmother."

Asuma barked a laugh. "Sucks to be you."

Kakashi only nodded.

"There are some days when this job is just too damn much. You spend months with the kids trying to teach them, trying to show them what a responsible adult is, trying to show them what reality is like, trying to get them to realize that you give a fucking damn. Then, just when you think you're getting through to them, you realize that they're just pushing you further and further away. We fucking sure don't do this for a paycheck. We do this for the kids, but nobody seems to fucking care. It's always our fault, or you realize the kid you're trying to help is too fucked up for you to make a difference in just a hundred-eighty fucking days."

After a quick search of his memory, the English teacher came up with why Asuma might be so close to breaking. He had probably come from Gaara's PPT, which had been scheduled for this period. The Scarecrow said nothing, however, merely kicked off his shoes under the desk, leaned back and put his feet up, staring into the ceiling.

"These kids don't give a shit about everything we're doing for them. They're too wrapped up in their own personal dramas that if it's not someone they're friends with, who the hell cares? So selfish. Parents reinforce it, saying their kids can do no wrong, or worse, the parents aren't even there, leaving the kids to put things together on their own and leaving them so turned around, it's no wonder they come to shitty conclusions. Or end up with severe problems."

Kakashi leaned back farther in his chair, staring at the tiles and grid above his desk. They sat together in silence for a long time. Sudoku-sama was in a bad way, and there was no doubt in the Scarecrow's mind that this had been building all year. They'd been told that this year's group was rougher than most, and that was true in many ways. However, Kakashi had found an inner strength in much of the grade when pulled together, such as Team 7 and Team 8. There were gems and more positive moments than Kakashi usually saw when trying to get students to learn. Yes, students like Naruto were hard to maintain discipline in class. But there seemed to be more maturity sprouting out this year than in all the years Kakashi had been teaching. They weren't major bouts of growing up, but the scaffolding had begun. The team idea that Gai had suggested had worked in ways the Scarecrow hadn't even realized and the students were reaping the benefit.

But Asuma wasn't seeing it. Asuma, who'd spent years and a lot of shit from faculty trying to create such learning environments as the one going on with this year's students, wasn't seeing it.

"How is Gaara?"

"Remember how Tsunade said at the beginning of the year we didn't know what his issues are?"

"Yes."

"I know what they are now."

"Iruka?"

"Was pulling kids for various midterms. I went solo."

Kakashi waited.

"Mother died giving birth to him... was an addict and was lucky he wasn't a crack baby... Father didn't want him... made that abundantly clear... when Gaara turned eight he tried to kill him... And people wonder why he's labeled as Socially and Emotionally Disturbed. DCF put him with Yashamaru... an uncle who doesn't know a damn thing about parenting... had only just gotten out of high school and saddled with a kid... Too lenient, let's Gaara get away with almost anything... isn't home enough to make sure he's doing as told... For the first time he's been able to find time to come in and see us, even if it's usually cut short... he's surprised at how much we've been saying about Gaara, doesn't believe he'd do anything once he's spoken to him... Doesn't know a damn thing about setting limits. Thinks just talking will work. Not with someone like Gaara." Asuma took a deep breath through his unlit cigarette. "Only learned all this because Gaara was in the PPT and turned into a mumbling headache... Yashamaru's never seen this behavior before... _Fucking idiots_." To whom Asuma was referring, Kakashi wasn't certain, but it really didn't matter at that point.

Asuma took a deep breath once more and brought his arm down, turning his head to the quiet English teacher. "What the hell do we do with that? What are we supposed to put into his IEP to try and get him over that? If Gaara hasn't even talked about this with the school shrink, or his guidance counselor, or any teacher at all since he entered school, let alone his uncle, how the hell do we set up a support network for him? We've been going about this all wrong for _five fucking months_. Half a year! Fuck, it isn't just Gaara that needs counseling, it's Yashamaru. He's not prepared. He thinks just paying the bills and talking to his nephew will be all he needs to do. Schools been the only stability and not only have we been doing a shitty job for five months, he hadn't been worked with about these problems since he entered school. We've never had this information before because Yashamaru didn't think to tell us. Thought Gaara would talk with the school shrink and that'd be the end of it.

"We're supposed to teach Gaara over twelve years how to be a functioning member of society, a responsible citizen, the ins and outs of how to live life from day-to-day. _How the fuck can we do that_?"

And _that_ was why Asuma was near the breaking point. He was feeling helpless in regards to one child who _really_ needed someone in his corner. For all that NCLB was about making sure that no child ever fell through the cracks of the American education system, there was just no way to prevent it. In the case of Gaara, they were fortunate. Iruka would be able to write up a new IEP better suited for the disturbed student and teachers from there would have the necessary information to make the modifications and adjustments to help support Gaara better. Assuming he finished high school of course. There were students where such support systems wouldn't be discovered until they were almost upon graduation, and by then, there was almost no time left. Of course, NCLB wasn't about making sure that students grew up healthy so much as "having enough knowledge" by passing standardized tests. But that was another issue that Kakashi didn't particular feel like pondering at the moment.

"How?" Kakashi replied. "You mean that what we've been doing all year hasn't shown him what responsible adults are like? That he can't function in society? That he can't live from day to day and will need to be in a group home? You're saying that Gaara wouldn't be able to hold down a job and make ends meet? He may not have many friends and I rather doubt at this point that he'll ever get married or have a relationship of that nature, but won't he still be a contributing member of society?"

Asuma offered up a bitter laugh. "Oh, he's smart all right. He'll be able to live day-to-day. By those definitions, he'll be fine. But what about being happy? It may not be in the job description, but isn't part of _our_ responsibility to try and give them some happiness?"

To this, Kakashi threw a dark glare at the math teacher of his team. "No one," he stated flatly, "can be the sole means of happiness for someone else. You need to find happiness on your own or you will never be truly happy."

"Sorry," Asuma mumbled, leaning back with his arm over his eyes. "Forgot about all the shit thrown your way."

"Do I look happy?"

"You weren't SED, Kakashi."

"Do I look happy?"

"Most days, yes. When anything comes up, you dim."

"You may not know all the details, but you know I had no hope of happiness when I left school. How do you know all the details that Gaara's life will hold? Who's to say that he won't be able to find his own happiness one day? They may not be the best team, but he works with Temari and Kankuro. It's taken, as you say, five fucking months, but they're starting to bond as a team. Who's to say that they won't continue to be there and support him? Who's to say that Yashamaru won't, once he's gotten his wake-up call? Who's to say anything?

"You're deciding his future for him, Asuma. And you're being stubborn about it. Stop it."

The math teacher let out a long tired sigh. "Sometimes I'm the hopeless jackass, aren't I?"

"You're a jackass who's welcome on my couch any time."

"I'm tired."

"No doubt. Go to sleep."

"Hnn."

They stayed silent. Kakashi observed the tired man out of the corner of his eye. Within moments, Asuma was asleep, snoring quietly, the cigarette still dangling from his lips. He waited, letting the tuckered out math teacher rest. If he could manage it, he would make Asuma take a few days off. But first things first.

He slipped out of his room and looked in across the hall. "Iruka-sensei? We need to meet after school. Kurenai-sensei's room."

"Eh? Why--?"

But Kakashi left without answering. Iruka was still with students and he wouldn't get into it then. He might have signed the explanation, but the English teacher needed to find someone. He checked in at the office first, found where he'd be taking his midterm and made a straight line for the sewing room. As expected, the midterm was a project and students were finishing up that day. Also as expected, several students were finished and were talking or studying in the center of the room away from the sewing machines. Among them was the student he was looking for. After a brief talk with the teacher, Kakashi pulled the student he wanted.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "What do you need? My midterm with you isn't until tomorrow."

"This isn't about me," he replied, "it's about Asuma-sensei."

"That doesn't make any sense; my math midterm was with a different teacher."

Kakashi merely smiled and shoved the student into his room, leaving the door open (teachers _couldn't_ be alone with students in closed rooms any more) and went across the hall.

"Gai? Come with me."

"My Eternal Rival, what is the problem?"

Once he and the social studies teacher were in Kurenai's room, Kakashi gave them the lowdown. Outside they heard the bell ring and the loud drone of students and slamming of lockers. It wasn't until the halls were once more quiet did Kakashi finish, with Iruka coming in halfway and still getting the basic gist.

"So?" he asked. "Any ideas?"

With the door shut and all of them hidden around the corner in Kurenai's room, they plotted well into the afternoon.

* * *

The following morning started with D Period, which was normally SSR for the seventh grade. So many students opted to come in late, or do a quick make up if they missed or were going to miss an exam, or just come in and study. 

Kakashi did a good job of shooing the few people who arrived for his SSR to other teachers, since he had a PPT to go to and they were short on substitutes that day. He meandered across the hall to see that Iruka was setting up the paraprofessionals with the students who had been pulled to take their finals here. Naruto was there, looking worriedly at his computer, with the special education teacher trying to calm him down.

"Iruka-sensei? Shall we both be late?"

His response was a signed word that the students didn't know but one that made Kakashi chuckle.

"You're meeting Yondaime-jiji, aren't you," Naruto said anxiously. "Am I doing fine? Will everything be okay? Did I do something wrong?" The list of questions began. Kakashi wondered absently if the young blond had picked up the habit from him, given that he always pelted people with inquiries when they were being disorderly or stubborn. He reached over and ruffled Naruto's head in the familiar way of both Yondaime did with him and what the Yellow Flash had done for the English teacher years ago.

"Focus on your exam, Naruto. It's the usual progress report type of meeting. Unless of course," he grinned, "you have anything to add that we should know about?"

"He--Heck no!"

"Good," Iruka replied. "Now get to work."

"Yes, sensei," he grumbled.

Kakashi and Iruka left together, the special education teacher once more walking stiffly with the cold aching his joints. They both arrived late, to Kakashi's pleasure and Iruka's irritation, and sat down with Yondaime and the usual extras, special education secretary, Jiraiya, Ebisu, case worker, etc.

"Sorry we're late," the English teacher offered, slouching into his seat with the same unease in his stomach that he had whenever he saw Naruto's foster father. "An owl just flew into my room and dropped off a parchment letter saying that Iruka and I were needed as teachers at some English school for witchcraft and wizardry. They needed a reply post-haste, but the owl wouldn't take any normal paper, so we had to hunt down parchment and a proper quill. Then the owl kept poking into my pocket to find money, but I don't think I know the proper exchange rate for American coins with the silver and gold coins I found already in the pouch."

Chuckles filtered around the table, with Yondaime's eerily familiar laugh being the loudest. Insisting on always being the one to go to Naruto's PPTs were a bittersweet experience for Kakashi. On one hand, it brought up a lot of painful memories and loss, but on the other, it was like he was alive once more. In the end, Kakashi couldn't say no to the PPTs, no matter how they made his guts twist.

"So," Iruka started, "Nartuo's doing very well in his classes this year. We'd set a goal for him to get Cs and he's not just maintaining, but in some classes, he's exceeding."

Kakashi nodded. "Depending on his midterm later today, he'll probably have anything from a high B to a low A. Gai tells me he's got a steady 81 for Social Studies. In science, Kurenai tells me he's a bit more varied. Material with the labs produces good grades, but the rest not so much."

"The only class he's still struggling in is math," Iruka agreed. "His splotchy education up till now is bringing him down since math is always building on itself. I'm doing what I can when he's in resource, but he often has other projects and assignments he needs to do."

The blond man nodded with a half grin that was so similar to the Yellow Flash.

"I think he's about to get some extra math lessons over the weekends," Yondaime chuckled. "He'll hate them, but I'll see what I can do about that 'splotchy' education. Seventh grade math can't be that hard right?"

"Hn," was all Kakashi would say on the matter as Iruka made a note to have Asuma (when he was feeling better) email some of what Naruto was missing.

They discussed a few more basic questions and concerns, mainly from Ebisu in regards to Naruto's habit of ending up in ISS when he got very rude in class.

"That's actually a question I have," Yondaime replied. "What's been going on here?"

"Many things," Jiraiya smiled coyly. "What, specifically, are you referring to?"

The foster father leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head in yet another familiar gesture. "Since I got him, Naruto's been a pretty normal healthy kid. But for a couple of weeks now he's been really peevish about something. And... I guess the word is protective. But he's not talking to me about it so I was wondering if any of you knew what was up?"

"Ah," Kakashi replied. "I think you're talking about something that happened to a classmate of Naruto's."

"The girl he's always going over to, or having over. His teammate." Yondaime nodded.

"That's Sakura, and she's been going through a very severe case of bullying." The Scarecrow leaned back as well, mimicking his foster father from years ago. "She'd been being teased about various things, including her teammates and what she did with them." Yondaime frowned angrily. "She finally broke down and went to guidance. She also had been keeping it from Naruto and their other teammate."

"Ah." Yondaime's frown deepened however. "That explains my dropping him off at her bus stop the other day."

The English teacher nodded. "Sakura was extremely grateful for that."

"You still seem concerned, however," Jiraiya stated.

"Is this normal? He's been a perfectly natural pre-pubescent boy since I got him, but I'm a little nervous with all this loyalty his throwing at his teammates. He's only known them for a few months. Trust and loyalty are things that take time to build and establish and I'm concerned that Naruto is giving his too quickly. What does he really know about these kids? Can you really know someone so well after such a short time?" Yondaime frowned further. "By giving his trust so freely, I'm worried that they'll do something to hurt him further down the line."

At last, a significant difference from the Yellow Flash. Kakashi's foster father would have encouraged Kakashi to go out and give his loyalty and trust as freely as Naruto did. But it appeared that Yondaime was worried about his young charge getting hurt by the trust he gave so freely being broken. Something that the Scarecrow had argued many times with the Yellow Flash about. And now the roles were about to be reversed. If it wasn't so bizarre it'd be amusing.

Jiraiya glanced at Kakashi with a broad grin, knowing what he was thinking.

"Maaaah," the English teacher drawled. "I disagree." Iruka glanced sharply at Kakashi, knowing that the Scarecrow didn't give trust easily and was no doubt interested in what Kakashi would have to say. "What Naruto is doing is good for him. He's a passionate boy. While his fervor may lead to trouble, especially when he doesn't think before he acts," Ebisu nodded emphatically, "his loyalty is inspiring to others. Sasuke and Sakura are both good people, but by having such unwavering devotion from Naruto, they are inspired to be better. It's not something that will happen to them overnight, but I'm already seeing aspects of their growth. Sasuke, for example, is following Naruto's example of sticking up for others, though he's a bit more selective. Sakura is learning how to face the difficulties of life and support others, something she'll need for her dream career.

"I'd love to see how others grow with Naruto's faith in them, such as a shy girl I know of who has a crush on him."

"Well," Yondaime lowered his arms, crossing them in front of him. "You seem to think that my new brat's working for the best?"

"This previous incident you were so concerned over is proof of that," Iruka replied, a wry grin on his face as he glanced at his colleague.

"Hm. I guess that's good enough for me. For now."

Kakashi slouched further, in great amusement. Yondaime was wary about his foster son, and would except the advice of those who knew Naruto better for now, until he himself became the expert on his new child. A very wise parent.

A few more miscellaneous items were discussed, but Kakashi was immensely pleased with how this PPT had turned out.

* * *

After the D Period midterm, came E period, which Kakashi had been looking forward to all day. He, Gai, Iruka, and Kurenai all met in Kakashi's room, reviewing what they would do one more time. Then, as one they walked single file around the corner and into Asuma's room, Gai bringing up the rear with a boombox playing the 70s classic _Staying Alive_ from the BeeGees. 

Once inside the math teacher's room, the volume was cranked and the four of them went into a simple dance routine, each singing horribly off key on purpose. With the new verse, Gai discreetly slipped out of their dance line and proceeded to flicker the lights on and off like a disco ball was shining around the room while Iruka through out handfuls of confetti from his pockets that filtered down as Kurenai stepped up, letting Kakashi and Iruka become background dances as she caroled horribly off key with a specific dance and almost karaoke-level butchering of the words.

Asuma sat at his desk, an unlit cigarette dangling from his gapping mouth, his face somehow looking almost ten years younger when slackened by shock. As the song ended, he coughed and grinned in a what-the-hell-was-that kinda way before the next song started. Gai and Kakashi seamlessly switched places as a new song came on, this time a classic from the game _Dance Dance Revolution_. As the Scarecrow played with the lights, Iruka took the foreground and did a stiff imitation of what the actual game play might be like while Kurenai and the Green Beast supported with outrageous hand gestures to compliment Iruka's bizarre and stiff footwork.

By now Asuma's grin had spread, and he was hunched over, laughing uproariously as the song finished. Panting and slightly sweaty, the four of them took their normal seats for Team Time, except for Kurenai, who slipped back to her room to bring in some cold drinks. Who'd have thought that it was the middle of January?

There was, without a doubt, nothing discussed during Team Time, because every time Asuma looked up at them, he burst into laughs all over again, wiping tears from his eyes and his guffaws echoed around the room. Naturally, Kakashi did everything he could to encourage the laughter, occasionally when things started to return to seriousness, he'd hum the BeeGees and send Asuma and occasionally Kurenai into peels of laughter once more.

Naruto and Gaara's PPTs were discussed only in the barest of terms before someone would start laughing all over again. Now the songs themselves weren't all that long, and Iruka had trouble dancing for any more than two songs. So all told, their song and dance routine was less than five minutes long. However, the fact that they took the remainder of their midterm time to laugh was probably the best team time they've had since the beginning of the year. Kakashi knew that for the rest of the year, all he'd have to do is hum a few bars and Asuma would be chuckling and laughing without any control over himself.

Frankly, Asuma needed it, and Kakashi couldn't have been more happy to provide.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

And for the record, every single thing Asuma said is true. All of it. It's depressing.

But Asuma's cheer-up bit was cool. Once again, it actually happened once. Of course, the details were a little different, one of the popular teachers of a team found a note on the floor calling him, among other things "a greasy poop stain" (direct quotation). The following day, there was a recorded song and drawing waiting for him in Team Time. Weeks afterward, he was still laughing. It was fun then, and it was fun now to write about it.

Thanks to all our reviewers. We're heading back to ICU now.


	21. Week 20

**January: Week Twenty**

* * *

Monday was the worst day. The weather report was talking about an incoming nor'easter that would most likely be clipping their area in the middle of the week, and "clip" wasn't clear enough to expect a delay or a snow day. The kids were all loudly praying for a snow day. It was the day grades were due to be submitted - though for Kakashi this meant nothing as he'd done everything he'd needed over the weekend and just needed to copy his excel sheet to the online gradebook. Report cards were Thursday, and the few students who weren't demanding a snow day were angsting over the upcoming sheets of paper. 

When the English teacher came into his room, he saw Naruto and Sasuke again talking with Sakura - something that they were doing with increased frequency for the simple reason that proximity offered protection. Sasuke in particular made it a personal duty to glare at any girl who looked their way with envy or chagrin - a dark reminder that he would not tolerate anyone messing with the only understanding girl in the entire grade.

A quick sweep of the room denoted that Gaara was either again absent or hadn't showed up yet. The black clad boy was known for appearing just a few minutes after announcements, usually with an equally black look in his eyes before he sat at his desk and pulled out his headphones. Hinata was standing by the door, constantly looking out into the hall or glancing at her watch. She was waiting for another latecomer, Inuzuka Kiba.

The boy, at the beginning of the year, was always one of the first in his homeroom. But since Christmas break he'd been arriving later and later, sometimes barely making it before the bell rang. Kakashi wondered, but there were too many directions to wander into, most of them horrific, so he decided to stop wondering and wait to see if the boy went to anybody. He'd been increasingly irritated lately, and his work ethic had taken a distinct nosedive. Hinata and, oddly, Shino tried to cover for it, taking on the extra work and often exchanging worried glances. All Kakashi could do was broadcast approachability and hope one of them would explain what was happening.

Asuma looked distinctly more cheerful as he popped his head into the English room. He actually smiled, and gave a half salute. "Oh, glorious leader mine," he said happily, "Iruka begged me to bother you into arriving on time, today."

"Consider me bothered," the Scarecrow replied. "What's up?"

"He's worried. What else is new?"

"About what? Or should I say whom?"

Asuma leaned in, dropping his voice so that the noisy homeroom wouldn't hear. "Akamichi Chouji."

That raised an eyebrow behind his _hitae'ate_. "Oh?"

"He'll explain more at Team. My bothering is done, so I'm going to grab my two Homeroom kids and be off." He turned and looked at the two letters of the alphabet that didn't belong in Kakashi's homeroom. "Uzumaki, Uchiha, you're in the wrong room; let's step up and get back where we belong, shall we?" He clapped his hands and ushered the two boys out.

Oh, Monday started off well enough. Kakashi breezed through his first two periods with little trouble. By this time in the year, the students knew the routines and knew the rules, and it was about this time that Kakashi started to subtly let up on his firm hand to see if anyone noticed; if they didn't, then he would be set for the year.

During his prep, he looked up Chouji's grades to see where Iruka might be worried and noticed that the boy, like Kiba, had taken a nosedive in his work. They had had a PPT earlier in the year where the parents (the ever rare Supportive-with-a-capital-S type) about his shoddy work and his absences. His attendance had improved greatly since then, but not his work. Curious now, Kakashi pulled out some of the boy's old work that he still had. It was like there were two Chouji's. One clearly put in an effort, and while the work was half done, what was completed was clearly generated from effort and assistance from his team (i.e. Shikamaru); the other gave half-assed answers, snooty replies, and grotesque doodles. The latter often had only one or two questions done, clearly less than he was capable of.

Frowning, Kakashi remembered Chouji's comments before Christmas, during the Homeroom Challenge, about growing his own mind-altering substances. That was nothing like the Chouji from the Thanksgiving Homeroom Challenge. Kakashi had no idea where his thoughts were going, but didn't want to put anything in stone. He would wait for Team.

It wasn't long after that that the bell rang, and his SSR kids started to filter in. They dutifully pulled out their books and opened them. Some even started to read!

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The English teacher raised a finger to his lips and shushed the ever-loud Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he tried again, this time in a whisper. "Because of the midterms last week I don't have any work to do in resource so I asked Iruka-sensei and he said it was okay if I came here to read - oh and I have a question for Sakura-chan about the new stuff we learned in science but I don't have a question for Sasuke-teme because he's just a--"

Kakashi held up a hand. "Slower, Naruto, slower," he annunciated, controlling his voice to only reach Naruto's ears. "You have no work, so you want to come here, is that right?"

"Yeah."

"Iruka-sensei gave you permission?"

"Yeah."

"Then yes, you may come in here and read."

"ALL RIGHT!"

"Provided," Kakashi said over the boy's enthusiasm, "that you just read. This is SSR, not Resource. You'll have to ask Sakura your questions later."

"Okay, got it, sensei!"

It was a mistake. Naruto had clearly forgotten to take his medication that morning, and within five minutes he'd put down his manga almost as many times to catch a glance at whatever had summoned his attention: a sneeze, an unusually loud flip of the page, someone shifting in his or her seat, etc. It was almost like every part of his body was twitching, the energy pent up inside him desperate for release of some kind. On second thought, maybe it wasn't a mistake, because Iruka was having what was magnanimously called his Demon Resource, and Kakashi could only imaging the horrors that would have happened if Naruto, in the state he was in, was unleashed in that class. So Kakashi did what he could to stave off disaster in his own class, by sitting down directly in front of Naruto and demonstrating how to read silently. He'd done this before on the occasional occurrences when the boy arrived to read to great effect. An authority figure towering in front of him made Naruto squirm and try to do as he was supposed to.

Kakashi heard repeated and various noises coming from across the hall, and silently hoped that Iruka wasn't stiff today.

"Would the Symtex repairman please report to the office."

Kakashi immediately followed his routine. He stuck his head out the door, but there were no students to be seen, so he closed and locked it and put the poster over the glass before moving the bookcase and moving across the room to close his blinds before joining the students behind his desk. He looked at his watch: nineteen seconds because of the blinds, but not bad.

That was how it had started, of course. That hard part was keeping the children quiet.

"Not another stupid drill," a certain blond wined. "We went through this once already, why again?"

Kakashi breathed through his nose in a sigh. He dug into the pocket his beloved book was in and fished out a notepad. He very rarely used it; after having the teachers all learn sign language there was no immediate need for it, but there was always the occasional paraprofessional or someone who didn't know it and he used the notepad for that kind of silent communication.

"_This isn't a drill. They didn't say 'for a test.' This is real._" He held the message in front of Naruto and gave him a full fifteen seconds to read it before swiping it away. Sakura, next to Naruto at the time, paled visibly. She curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her waist and bringing her legs up to her chest. Sasuke, too, had at least glimpsed the note, for his ebony eyes hardened and Kakashi saw the boy's jaw clench.

Naruto, however, was squinting at Kakashi, calculating whether or not to believe his teacher. He did see his teammates reactions, however, and brought his voice down to a whisper. "How do you know they didn't say that?" he asked.

"_Because it's my job to pay attention to things like that._" Kakashi wrote slowly, keeping his pencil scratches to a minimum, and again gave Naruto fifteen seconds to read the reply. "_Besides,_" he added at the last minute, "_Sakura and Sasuke know they didn't say 'for a test.'Believe them._"

That seemed to clinch it; Naruto's blue eyes opened completely, and he threw a look to his two teammates. Sasuke nodded, and Naruto threw his hands over his mouth to swallow a shriek of panic.

The other SSR students hadn't seen the notes and therefore didn't know the very real danger they were in. But, after twenty or so minutes of dutifully _trying_ to be quiet, they started to realize it might not be a drill. The principal had yet to walk the halls and unlock the doors, giving the all clear. Besides, this was being held during fourth period, SSR, right before lunch - if this was a drill it was poorly timed, to say the least.

The final nail in the coffin came when the bells didn't ring. Fourth period moved into fifth period - the lunch period - without the concussive proclamation of the bells, and once the students realized that, a wave of panic quickly spread through the ranks.

"Oh, my god! This is real!" a girl whispered. She and a friend were trying to scrunch themselves together into a corner, making themselves a small as possible, as Sakura had done.

"That's so cool!" one of the Sasaki twins said, excited. "I wonder if a gunman is in the school or something?"

"Silence," Kakashi's voice was low, dangerous, and his headband had long ago gone up to watch the class with both eyes. In the grey shades of the room, with no lights and the blinds closed, his scarred red eye looked almost evil, and in combination with his voice three octaves lower than anyone was used to hearing from him, they all dumbly obeyed the command.

There were two mindsets raging for dominance in each student. One was anxiety as the reality of it all sunk in, and various horror movie or newsreel images filtered across their eyes. For some reason, the school was locked down and it had to be _serious_ for that to happen. On the other, however, was sheer _boredom_. After forty minutes of sitting and doing nothing... well, a twelve year old can only withstand that kind of torture for so long before going nuts. Some had been smart enough to bring their books with them behind Kakashi's desk, and tried to focus their scared minds enough to read until the harrowing moment of flipping the page came, where they tried to do it silently. Others, like Naruto, were not so fortunate, and it almost became a trial of endurance.

For the orange clad youth in particular, with acute ADHD and having forgotten his medication, was constantly struggling. The boy would sit cross legged, before thrusting them straight, before hooking one ankle over the other and visa versa, crossing his arms on his chest or behind his head, playing with his ninja headband, picking at loose threads of his clothes, practicing shadow puppets until he realized he had no shadows to check his work, tugging at his hair and releasing a strangling sound high up in his throat, cracking his knuckles and other joints until Kakashi glared at the noise he was making, swinging his knees back and forth, tapping on the floor or thrumming his fingers on his knees, sighing explosively, etc.

Kakashi finally pulled out his notepad and ordered Naruto, "_Count all the tiles on the ceiling you can see and from there estimate the number of ceiling tiles in the room. Then do the same with the floor._"

Naruto squinted at him, his eyes just wide enough to glare, before looking up and concentrating on the ceiling.

The seriousness of it all maintained the silence for the most part. There was the occasional burst of whispering, usually asking, "When are the going to let us out?" Later this was joined with growling stomachs and pained proclamations of "I'm getting hungry!" and "They can't keep us from having lunch, can they?" and "I have to go to the bathroom!" When they were bored, there was nothing to do but to talk; but it was, blessedly, always very brief, always (relatively) quiet. The boon to having utter silence was that the hearing became very acute. Kakashi used this to listen for someone coming down the halls, or the jingle of keys that would signify freedom. The occasional cluster of students tried to pass notes, and their pencil scratches became very loud. Only Kakashi could write without making noise.

It was a full two hours later, past all four lunch waves and twenty minutes into F period, when the noise of students and lockers opening and closing. Kakashi dutifully kept all his students silent until he heard the sound of keys in his door.

"Kakashi."

The Scarecrow snapped to attention, standing straight up and looking at the weathered face of the principal.

"All is well," Sandaime said. "The children may go to their lockers--"

"Yay!" they all cried, Naruto the loudest.

"And report to their F period classes."

"Aaawww!"

"What about lunch?"

"I'm hungry!"

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Did anybody get killed?"

Kakashi, not quite lightly, pounded his book on that boy's head. "Just get your stuff and go where you were told."

There was some grumbling, but the overriding reaction was relief, both at the declaration of safety and the ability to move.

"Ah! That means I come back here! Aw, man!" That was Naruto, but he did leave the room to go to his locker, leaving the old man and Kakashi alone in his room.

"How does this play out?" Kakashi asked.

"Lunch will be served during F, the grades will be called down one by one via announcement. Lunch will be fifteen minutes each. I've been telling the teachers to let students finish eating in their rooms if it becomes necessary. It was the best we could do on short notice."'

The English teacher frowned, mentally working out how he was going to manage it, but nodded as Sandaime moved on to open the next room. Kakashi followed him out into the hall. Everybody was yelling at everybody else, sharing their experiences and hugging friends when they learned they were fine, etc. Gai and Iruka were out in the hall; Kurenai joining them shortly after.

"How bad were your classes?" she asked.

"Nightmares," Gai and Iruka said in perfect unison. Iruka in particular, looked haggard, unkempt, even sullen.

"One crisis at a time," Kakashi said. In a louder voice he announced, "You all have exactly five minutes from now to show up in your F period classes. And please keep your hands off each other, Ino and Shino." Shino, blushing bright red under his dark glasses, looked grateful while Ino just rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. He ignored them both and turned back to his collection of teachers. "That should give us enough time to figure out what the heck we're going to say to these kids; because you know classes are all shot to hell now."

"Will there be an announcement?" Kurenai asked.

"Don't know," Asuma said as he finally joined them. "Do we know what it was all about?"

"Not yet," Kakashi said. "I assume there will be a faculty meeting after this explaining it. I'm more concerned about lunch and how that's going to work out."

"The kids will be bitching if they don't get the first wave."

"I suggest," Gai said thoughtfully, "That those that brought lunch immediately beginning eating. For those that did not, we send, say, three at a time and sneak them into the other lunches. No doubt there will be much confusion, and if they are chaperoned it would minimize potential damage."

"Why, Gai, that's unexpectedly devious of you," Kakashi remarked.

The Green Beast flashed a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "I know that such accomplishments of mental fortitude and trickery are normally left to you, my Eternal Rival, but know that I will best you in all areas!"

That was exactly what they did. Iruka, stiff beyond endurance offered to be the adult pass to work out his joints, and slowly collected three students a class and walked them to the cafeteria, where they snuck into what passed for a line and got their lunches. In class, meanwhile, some students proved to be surprisingly considerate. Sakura, for example, had brought her lunch and slowly worked out how to divide it so that Sasuke and more importantly Naruto would have something to tide them over until it was their turn. Hinata donated her lunch to Kiba wholesale, and Shino, too, gave half his sandwich to the boy. He tried to refuse, several times, but finally bowed out to their kindness. As some students brought in lunch from the cafeteria, it was obvious that some deliberately overbought to feed those around them, like Shikamaru for Chouji, and Naruto for Sakura and (because he was such a great guy, he announced) for Sasuke.

Others were not so generous. Ino had brought her lunch and fastidiously guarded against anyone who eyed it, proclaiming that if they were so damn hungry they should have brought a lunch. Kankuro (Kakashi was certain of this) ate his lunch noisily, as if enjoying being the center of envy from the starving students.

For the first half hour, Kakashi just let them talk. Curriculum for the day was shot all to hell, but it was also an opportunity to talk about life issues, and it was best to wait until everyone had a full stomach. Iruka finally came and stayed, feeling much more limber. "I talked with the other teachers and with the cafeteria staff. We'll keep our kids here the whole period, since they've already had lunch, so to speak. I'm sure they'll complain, but it's the price they pay for getting their lunch before the others." He shrugged. "Besides, the cafeteria is thinning out anyway. We weren't the only ones who sent our kids in before they were supposed to."

"Don't you just love mass confusion?" Kakashi grinned. Then, seeing that his class was generally done eating, he walked to the front of the room. "Yo!" he called out, and the thirty odd students quieted.

"Today is going to be a little different than normal," he said lightly. "For starters, you have until the count of seven to makes sure your desk, chair, and floor around you is clear of foodstuffs and that any garbage in the aforementioned area is put in the garbage where it belongs. One..."

They moved quickly. Most of it was taken care of; aside from a stray napkin or chunk of bread, one would never have known that lunch had been held here.

"That's good," Kakashi said lightly. "Today you're going to do a journal entry about what we've just experienced, but I'd like to brainstorm ideas before we begin. Does anyone have something they want to share?"

And that was how it started. A vast array of things were covered, complaints and otherwise, but overall it gave them a chance to talk about how scared they were, how worried they were about their friends in other classes, how painful it was to not know what was happening, jumping at every little noise, etc. Shikamaru probably put it best when he said it was all so "troublesome."

Kakashi and Iruka made some points from the teacher perspective, Kakashi dipping a little bit into how he had thought out his room for these kinds of situations, the responsibility of the adult to keep the kids quiet and - when he heard a few snickers from the special ed students from Iruka's Demon Resource - added that students were responsible not only for their own lives, but those around them. It was one thing to not care about dying, it was another entirely to be responsible for the death of one's entire class because of asinine behavior.

His speech, of course, didn't reach the ears that needed it most. They were too caught up with the word asinine and how it sounded, repeating it and trying to make it sound dirty. Others were openly discussing whom they'd like to see killed, and explaining how they'd happily volunteer to offer them up to a gunman.

Kakashi, suddenly very tired and thoroughly depressed, sighed all the way down and quietly told them to start writing, that it was a quiz grade, and that it would be completed for homework. For the last ten minutes of G period he and Iruka fought to get them to shut up and start writing. Even Kakashi had days when his skills did nothing to control students, this was one of those days, and he felt very old.

G period had been shortened a bit to compensate for the lunches in F period, and this time Iruka took the floor, leading the discussion and then tossing them the journal assignment. While the students worked, Iruka walked over to the forlorn Kakashi and put a hand on the Scarecrow's shoulder. "You can't reach them all," he said softly.

"No, I can't."

"But the ones you do reach..." Iruka started, smiling softly. "Did you see Naruto or Sasuke or Sakura while you were talking? Or Team Eight?" At Kakashi's blank stare the special education teacher only smiled more. "I'm looking forward to their journal entries."

The silver haired man smiled softly, the faintest lifting of the corners of his lips, and Iruka was surprised to see the vulnerability of the (previously believed to be unmovable) teacher.

The kids moved like a river to the buses after that, and the parents who had arrived to pick up their children were bombarded with stories about the lockdown. Meanwhile, the faculty was without question gathering in the library to get their own answers. Kakashi and Iruka grabbed seats together, and were soon joined by Gai. Kurenai, as always, sat with the science departments, and Asuma flittered about the book-strewn room before sitting with the other seventh grade team. Everyone was sharing what had happened to them for the two hours. It was here that Kakashi learned just how demon-like Iruka's Demon Resource really was.

It boiled down to the fact that, even after two hours, some kids just didn't take it seriously. Chouji had tried to sneak into a cabinet so that no one would find him; Takato was utterly unable to speak in a whisper; Kiba kept making nonvocal noises, such as practicing his drumming on the metal of Iruka's desk to stave off boredom. Ryoko, when she realized how serious it all was, started to cry and couldn't be quiet about it; Gaara, who had brought his headphones, kept turning up the volume to the point where others could hear it. And so on and so forth. Gai's room could hear the noise, and several of his students, Ino among them, kept giggling at the noises they were hearing, making them unable to take it seriously.

Between the three of them, they agreed to pick out the boneheads and make them pay, deciding to generate ideas in the next Team.

Finally, Sandaime arrived in the library and the room immediately quieted.

"We went under lockdown today," the old man said, "because a gunman had rather spectacularly robbed one of the supermarkets down the street, and was headed this way. The police contacted us with this information, fearing our safety, and thus we put the school under lockdown while the robber was being chased."

"And it took them two hours to find the fucker?" someone demanded.

"Yes," Sandaime replied. "The culprit, I'm told was hidden and it took some time to find him. I'm sure all the details will be covered in tonight's news report."

Questions fired left and right, and the old man answered them all with patience and diligence that only he was capable of. Several side conversations broke out, but Kakashi, satisfied with knowing the reason for the lockdown, simply got up and left.

* * *

"You're late!" 

"Sorry, I was getting a haircut and the barber was determined to shave my head completely; there was a valiant fight, of course, because my hair is so sexy, and I accidentally killed him."

"Liar!"

Kakashi took his usual seat and pulled out his book. Actually, it had been the first time he'd sat down all day, and he savored the experience. "The boneheads. What do we do with them?"

"Commit murder?" Asuma asked, half joking.

"I think everyone should get a talking to," Kurenai said, running her hand through her thick locks of hair. "Not just the boneheads, but the entire grade. It was a very scary experience, and I think they need to be reassured. They also need to be reminded of why we practice lockdowns and why it has to be taken so seriously. Then we can take the boneheads and make them do something for each of us. Like have them clean up my room after a lab, that sort of thing, and make certain that it's all taken care of by the end of the week."

"There is merit in that idea," Gai said. "I could make them all take laps!"

"They can have detention with me," Kakashi said, grinning at the idea.

"I was thinking something a little more serious than a detention, Kakashi," Kurenai said uncertainly.

"Oh, that's right, you haven't seen a Kakashi detention, have you?" Iruka said. "He makes them sit with perfect posture; back straight, feet on the floor, hands neatly folded, for the entire detention. It's torture." Kurenai grinned somewhat evilly at the thought, and the special education teacher leaned back. "I could have them write a five paragraph essay on expected behavior for a lockdown," he said thoughtfully. "If nothing else, at least they'd think about it. How about you, Asuma?"

"Oh, I think something nice and painful should do. Calculate the size of the student body based on their class size and then extrapolate how many students were in a room when the lockdown occurred, and then adjusting for things like library trips or gym classes and the like."

"The talks should probably come for next period," Kakashi said slowly, thinking it through. "It's not something to really put off, and it was F period where they did the most talking, because it had all just happened."

"That sounds about right," Asuma said. Iruka was taking it all down. "Now all we need is a list of boneheads."

It was while they were generating a list that a knock came on Asuma's door. When the math teacher opened the door, a pair of parents walked in.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Haruno," Kakashi said expansively, getting up. "What brings you two to our humble team meeting?" And with no notice, no less.

"You didn't get our email?" the father asked.

Kakashi blinked. He hadn't been online all day except to submit attendance. Iruka stood up quickly, "I did see an email from you in the inbox, but I didn't get a change to open it. Things have been very busy, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"I got the email," Asuma said, "I was the one that replied. I haven't had a chance to spread the word." He turned to the rest of the team. "They sent an email last night asking if they could stop by. The principal was busy and they were so impressed with us that they figured we'd do." He gave a short barking laugh, a smoker's laugh. "They ought to lobby to get us all promoted."

"It's hardly all that," the mother said, sitting down in the chair that Gai had offered. "You handled Sakura's problems the other week so well. We were planning to drop by anyway to thank you in person."

Kakashi was certain he saw Iruka's eyes water, and the English teacher felt exactly the same way. This type of parent was _rare_! So rare that this was his first encounter with this kind in his career, he savored it while he could.

"We just wanted to know, from you, if everything is okay," the mother continued. "Sakura was very, very scared about what happened yesterday. She never found out about made the lockdown, and we wanted to know - if you can tell us - what happened."

Gai soberly explained the robbery down the street and the decision to protect the students as a precaution. The Harunos nodded at the right times, asking for details here and there, and asking Kakashi about what had happened in his room. Kakashi calmly explained that she had Naruto and Sasuke with her at the time, and the mother smiled. "They sure pop up at the right time, don't they?" she asked.

"I've never seen a trio of students who became so close so quickly," Kakashi agreed. "They've exceeded all my expectations. Repeatedly." And it was true; beyond the work that they handed in together, which was frankly at a high school level between Sakura's attention to detail, Naruto's insights, and Sasuke's ability to direct it all, individually their work had improved tremendously. Sakura was willing to take more chances, Sasuke had clearer objectives, and Naruto had jumped from third grade to seventh grade writing ability (spelling aside). They could all read at the eighth grade level - given Naruto had some help, and often their work showcased exactly what he wanted for the assignment. Only Teams 5 and 8 came close to their caliber of workmanship. This didn't even include how the three of them had grown emotionally.

"Anyway, you'll probably get a letter in the next day or so explaining the exact reason of the lockdown," Asuma said. "The principal was talking about it this morning."

The bell rang and the Harunos apologized for taking up so much of their time. Kakashi waved it off, saying they were a welcome breath of fresh air, and quickly explained what the team was going to do with their F period, and would they like to sit in on it.

"That's quite alright," the father said. "We'll just pop in and say hi to Sakura, and then we'll get out of your hair."

Kakashi shrugged and the three walked into the room. Sakura's smile was particularly bright, and the parents did exactly as they said. The two took their turns to hug their daughter and offer a few platitudes before excusing themselves and disappearing into the halls. The English teacher walked them out, leaving an irritated Iruka to start the lecture on the lockdown. When the Scarecrow returned, fifteen minutes later, the special education teacher was just about finished. Ah, perfect timing.

* * *

After school, Gai took the boneheads and lead them on laps around the gym, and before they could rest, the dozen odd students were thrown to Kurenai where she had them do a meticulous cleaning of her room. It was agreed that they'd serve Kakashi's detention the next day, and the Scarecrow had the time of his life making them sit still for twenty-seven minutes at perfect posture. He wouldn't even tolerate a twitching of the head, and people like Chouji in particular struggled constantly. When the bell rang and the students sprung up to leave, Kakashi held them to remind them about the "assignments" for Iruka and Asuma, and happily grinned at the several glares thrown his way. 

Thursday, meanwhile, snuck up on the student body in general, because that was the day report cards were handed out.

"I got an A! I got an A! Kakashi-sensei! You gave me an A!"

"No, Naruto, you gave yourself the A. Try not to be too smug about it."

"Look Sasuke-teme! I got an A in English! Try to beat that!"

The boy in question held up his report card. "A plus."

Naruto stood poleaxed, staring at the dark haired boy. "You bastard!"

"Now, now. You don't want a detention for language, do you?"

Naruto flinched and shrank back.

Others were not so happy, however.

"A D?? I worked my a--my butt off in this class! I turned in all the work, what the hell?"

Kakashi turned to Kiba. "You didn't turn in all the work for this class. I gave you a list of missing assignments last week, and you never turned in a single one."

"I did! I da-darn well did! You just lost them!"

Flat stare. Drop the voice an octave. "You really don't want to make that accusation, do you?"

Kiba growled but returned to his group. Shino had gotten a B and Hinata a C . It was about par for their skills. They worked together very well, but certain things were pulling them down. Kiba's discontented attitude for one, Hinata's perpetual fear of bad grades for another; she never made up her failed test, and that more than anything else had pulled her grade down. The girl was looking at her grades with a tight face, and once Kiba rejoined her and Shino leaned in close to talk to her quietly.

"A C?? I'm your hardest working student!" That was Ino. Kakashi only replied with a flat stare. If she spent more time working with her team than flirting with whomever she was going out with, all of their grades would have been at least seven points better. Shikamaru, lazy as ever, only did the bare minimum and had also gotten a C. Chouji had failed miserably, and the Scarecrow was quickly expecting a PPT with his parents. Something was up with him - oh, that was right; Iruka had wanted to talked about him Monday, but the lockdown had happened. Kakashi made a mental not to talk about it Friday if they had a chance.

Team 1 overall had done well. Temari had matched Sakura and Sasuke with an A plus, Kankuro close behind with an A-. Gaara trailed behind with a D, not because of his work but because of his frequent absences and times he was pulled out. He never turned in the missing work, like Kiba.

Friday came and Kakashi again wandered in late.

"You're late!"

"Sorry; I was having a long conversation with a vigilante in red and blue hanging upside down by a thread about the benefits and deficits of spandex. Give me military fatigues any day."

"Liar!"

Formalities taken care of, Kakashi was about to open his mouth when Kurenai cut him off.

"Hinata has a problem."

The English teacher sat up a little straighter - an oxymoron because he was still slouching - as the science teacher continued. "One of the girls, Ryoko, found her crying in the bathroom today and passed it off to me. I went in and took her to my back room, and we had a long talk. She's caving under the pressure at home. Her little sister has already skipped a grade because of how smart she is, and Neji at eighth grade is already taking high school courses in math and science. The entire family is gifted, and they always remind her how unacceptable her average-ness is; her father and Neji in particular.

"Neji, apparently, is always passing her in the halls and giving her dirty looks or a snide smirk. I asked if she was certain of this, and she said that Neji is a boy who never changes his expression, so something like that is obvious. He cornered her in the hall once and said that she would never amount to anything; that it's her destiny to be a failure, etc.

"Her father sits with her every night while she does her homework. He won't help her because he says he shouldn't have to, and just sits and stares at her while she tries to concentrate, which of course she can't because she can feel his disapproving eyes on her. Tack on the fact that he speaks to her if she takes too long on a problem or if she just stares off into space, and it's a miracle that she gets her work done at all."

"On top of that," Iruka said, "I got an email last night from her father. He wants to schedule a PPT and have her tested for any kind of learning disabilities. I think he wants to scare her into getting better grades."

"Could she have an LD?" Asuma asked. "She is more intelligent that her grades dictate, and that's the first sign on LD."

"Except we know why her grades don't reflect her intelligence," Kakashi said. "It's because she's under too much pressure to be brilliant, and she's starting to crack. It only gets worse from here; March brings the state tests, I can only imagine the panic that going to ensue from that."

"Well," Iruka said, writing it all down. "A parent's requested it, so we can't say no. Maybe we can talk about modifications at home, get here away from the stares of her father, something like that."

"I want to be there," Kurenai said. "Hinata is so timid, she might not speak up for herself. I want to see if I can spur her into saying something; if not I can probably speak for her best."

"Agreed," Kakashi said. "Leastwise they won't react well if they see me. Make it for next week, if you can."

"Alright. I'll email them tonight after school."

They talked about other struggling students, and they never got around to talking about Chouji.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Lockdowns are a nightmare. And yes, classes can be that bad (or worse) like Iruka's Demon Resource.

**Side Note:** Mom is still in the hospital and still in a coma. The rough idea of what happened is she got an infection (how is beyond us) that triggered dormant diabetes type 1. She's stabilized and they're starting to ween her off of the drugs they needed her on like morphine and dopamine. Updates might be moved to Sunday nights... we'll see. The fact that we're online at all today is a miracle. Thanks to everyone for their kind support.

**Anna Nigma:** We're glad you like the story so much. Kakashi's perspective is certainly unique, I doubt the fic would have been nearly as successful as it seems to be without his little quirks. :P A middle school setting made sense for a number of reasons; partly to turn the "high school fic" on it's ear, but also because middle school has the teams and the team time and the actual contact with other teachers. In high school, we've found you stick with your department, and sometimes that's very limiting.

**Jill BioSkop:** We're so glad your so impressed with this (not so little) fic of ours, and that you're learning from it, no less! I think we've said before, we didn't really think about the authenticism, as you put it, and we're really pleased that everyone's reacting so well to this fic.

**spider wench:** Happy you liked out portrayal of Mrs. Yamanaka, and the Asuma cheerup sequence. We need a happy moment once in a while, we do so much to these poor characters in this fic that you just need to smile or you get desensitized to all the drama we're shoveling onto you. And yes, Chouji's plate is starting to spin a little bit. I wonder if anyone's guess what's happening to him.

**Paosheep:** er, sorry we're so apologetic? We weren't really in our rightminds last week. I'm not sure we're even in them yet now, but at least we're not angsting over what news we may or may not get when we visit ICU. Er, not as much at any rate. (weak grin) Regardless, we're happy to collect another avid reader. The more the merrier!

**decemberWriter:** Thanks for your well wishes. Most people (in our experience) tend not to care about personal dramas, and everyone's prayers here and a few other places we posted have been wonderfully heartwarming and making us just that much stronger. You've no idea what support like this can do for a pair of twins. (warm hugs) Glad you likes Asuma's little dance party, it's actually going to turn into a little bit of a running joke, and that you found Gaara's past so appropriate. We really fought to make everyone's cannon past as... sensible for this kind of world as possible, for those that we knew at any rate. You'll see other little tidbits of people's pasts throughout the fic, and we hope you enjoy them just as much.

**InoShikaCho:** Like we said to december, thanks for the well wishes. It made us smile. One of the quirks about writing a fic entirely from one person's point of view is that they (despite Kakashi's several protests to the contrary) are no omniscient. They don't know everything that happens, and sometimes will never find out. We as writers may not exactly what happened, but Asuma is too private in this fic to share something like that, and we're sort of stretching Kakashi's abilities as it is for things he over hears/walks into. We can say, with some degree of certainty, that they had a very long talk, and a very long game of shogi. Temari did get her comeupance despite what her grandmother said, but don't worry, she and the rest of the Sand team have a LOT more mishcief in store (knowing laughter...)


	22. Week 21

**February: Week Twenty-One**

**InoShikaCho**: This chapter, you'll enjoy. We hope.**  
**

* * *

Monday ended up being yet another snow day as a semi-blizzard passed through the state late Sunday night. Personally, Kakashi thought a 90-minute delay would have been better suited, since the roads were plowed out pretty quickly, but school administrators seemed to think that the roads were still dangerous, even though they were drying out nicely in the bright winter sun. Kakashi didn't complain, however, as he used the day off to start planning ahead. With state testing looming a few weeks away, he was going to have to start pushing his students a little harder than he would have liked. 

State tests weren't something he enjoyed (other than the peace and quiet they brought). The purpose behind them, as a data-collecting tool, was good, but with all the added pressure of Adequate Yearly Progress, student graduation depending on scores, was all bullshit as far as Kakashi was concerned. Let the teachers use the data, don't use it for them.

Thus, when Tuesday came, Kakashi came in with a lot of five-paragraph essay assignments to start heaping, as well as comprehensive reading checks, spelling and grammar boosters, and other miscellaneous tidbits from his arsenal to improve his students for the testing doom ahead of them. The ones who would really suffer were students like Naruto, who, despite being classified as special needs, didn't fit the classifications the state set forth for modified testing. No, Naruto would be taking the same state tests as all the other students with the same provisions, and the same limitations. Test anxiety, anyone?

Preparations in place, Tuesday started off fairly well. The first two periods, though grumbling, took his changes without too much complaint, and his prep was spent making copies of various worksheets that he'd be needing over the next few weeks. However, when SSR arrived, he ended up raising an eyebrow.

The students dutifully came in, dutifully took out their books, and dutifully pretended to read. (Really, Kakashi wished he could quiz some of these kids on what they read. To make sure they were actually reading, which he was sure they weren't. You don't spend almost an hour on one page of a book.) Sasuke was sitting in front of his desk, as usual, a big fat fantasy novel in front of him and Kakashi was certain that he'd get a good hundred pages through it. Unfortunately, the dark boy was glancing around, his female teammate missing.

Given that the English teacher had seen Sakura in homeroom, he knew she was there today. Did she go home sick? Doubtful, students would be coming to him to mention it (always ready to share gossip). Sensing something wrong in the air, Kakashi reached over to his phone and was about to pick it up when it rang.

"Yo," he whispered into the phone. "SSR teacher, Kakashi-sensei speaking." That was his subtle jibe to his caller to speak quietly, conversation could always be more easily overheard in the silence of SSR.

"Yes," Shinzune replied over the phone. "We're sending Haruno Sakura back to class now."

Kakashi nodded to himself. "I thought something was missing here," he grinned. "Can you tell me why?"

"Sorry, I don't know all the details. She was called down last period to talk with Ebisu about something."

Warning bells rang loudly. "Ebisu-sensei? Why?"

"I don't know."

"Maah, thanks anyway."

"Of course. Have a good day."

Yeah right. No sooner had his phone been cradled when it rang again.

"Yo, SSR teacher, Kakashi-sensei speaking."

"My Eternal Rival!"

"Hello, Gai-sensei."

"I have called to ask you, since you are a central node of information within this fine institute, if you know why Yamanaka Ino, one of my youthful SSR students, has been called to the office to talk with Ebisu-sensei?"

The Warning Bells rang louder. "No, I haven't checked my usual sources yet. Sakura is just being sent up, she was having a long discussion with him as well."

Sasuke shifted his seat ever so carefully and glanced back at the Scarecrow. Eavesdropper. Not that Kakashi really minded, it warmed a small part of his heart to see the concern. Team 7 had all really grown and he was proud of them.

"This worries me, Kakashi."

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Gai."

"But after what happened between Ino and Sakura last month..."

"I know, but we don't have the information to go there yet. I'll keep my ear to the ground and see if I can dig anything up by team time."

"I will do the same and come with more information than you, my rival!"

"Yeah, yeah."

The phone in its cradle again, Kakashi slouched back to think for a moment before it rang again.

"Yo, SSR teacher, Kakashi-sensei speaking."

"Do you have Chouji with you?"

Kakashi blinked, glanced around his room, and replied, "No, Iruka-sensei, I don't."

"Dammit."

"Tsk, tsk, you have students in your room."

"Shut up. I saw Chouji this morning, I know he's here, but I can't find him."

"Have you checked with Asuma-sensei? He hangs out there from time to time."

Iruka snorted. "There's a sub in the room and he doesn't know any of the student names."

Warning Bells turned to Warning Sirens. Kakashi's voice dropped an octave. "Where is he?"

"Not a clue, I thought you'd know."

"Let me make few calls. Check in with Shizune and start calling in the gossip mill."

"I'm not _that_ well connect--"

But Kakashi had hung up and dialed. "Kurenai-sensei?"

"Kakashi-sensei? What's up?"

"Do you know why Asuma-sensei has a sub right now?" He glanced up when Sakura came into the room. She was pale, but walked over to his desk and handed him her pass. He held up a hand, motioning for her to wait. After all, she was a perfect source of information.

"Hmm, I think something happened B period. When I walked by on my way to see another science teacher, and he was talking to some students after class. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know."

He hung up his phone and turned to the pink-haired girl, Sasuke glancing back behind her. Pausing long enough to call up student schedules and put some pieces together.

Pitching his voice to not carry beyond Sakura, he asked, "What happened during math today?"

"..." Sakura hesitated, just barely glancing at all the students in the room before shaking her head and sitting in her chair next to Sasuke. The girl pulled out her book, a mystery drama, opened it and leaned back in her chair as was customary for her.

Kakashi waited, having a good guess at what she was up to. Sure enough after a full five minutes, she started to whisper. "It didn't happen during math, more like after. Chouji started to ask me when I'd 'offer my services' to him very loudly." There was a distinct snap as the spine of Sasuke's book broke. "Asuma-sensei heard it and came over. Ino started browbeating Chouji, saying that he'd get her in trouble and she'd had enough with her grounding."

Kakashi smiled to himself. Ino may not have bought completely into her team, but she was at least looking out for them, even if it was for selfish purposes.

"Asuma-sensei sent Ino to a corner since there was only a minute left in class, saying he wanted to speak to her after class, but Chouji wouldn't stop asking me about spending the night. I told him to back off, and he said he'd rather see me..." she paused, " 'back down'." Kakashi caught the innuendo and bit back a growl. "Then her turned to Asuma-sensei and started asking if that was enough to get an ISS."

"He wanted an ISS?" Kakashi asked, a hidden eyebrow rising.

"Yes." Sakura turned a page of her book. "He kept saying how he was behind on his work and needed an ISS to catch up on everything. Then things got kinda scary."

This wasn't enough? But that still didn't explain why Asuma was still missing from SSR. Even assuming things needed to be dealt with, it wouldn't take over a period to see Ebisu and talk about what had happened and ensure that Chouji got a Saturday Detention. (Not an ISS. Heaven forbid they give the kid what he asked for, that'd be like saying his behavior was alright...)

"How so?" he whispered.

"Asuma-sensei was just glaring at Chouji, but Chouji wouldn't stop talking. My god, he said Asuma-sensei was raping him with his eyes! He wasn't making any sense! These random sentences just kept dropping out of his mouth. Chouji _doesn't_ say things like that! Then Asuma-sensei told Ino to go to class and he'd talk with her later and he told me to get going as well. Last period, I was called down and asked to tell everything I saw and heard." Sakura shuddered, turning another page. "Something's wrong." She shuddered again.

"Thank you Sakura," Kakashi leaned back. "Get back to your book."

He reached out to his phone to call Iruka, having an inkling on where the special education teacher should start looking when it rang again. Kakashi sighed.

"Grand Central Station," he said to the receiver.

"Sorry to interrupt your SSR period," came the voice of Ebisu over the receiver. "Asuma will be unable to join you during team time."

"This is about the incident earlier today?"

"I can't say."

Kakashi frowned. "I think you can. It involves one of our special needs students and a girl who spent a lot of time in your office last month, and Jiraiya-sensei's. I think a Saturday Detention is in order from what I've heard."

Ebisu sighed over the phone. "No, Kakashi-sensei, it's much worse than that. Asuma-sensei will give you the details. I'll try and get him to you for team time, but don't hold out much hope. The substitute in his room has been prepared for the rest of the day, if it comes to that."

The Warning Sirens went full blast. Something major had either happened after Chouji and Asuma were alone in the classroom (a stupid move, but students got held back a few minutes after class frequently, without witnesses, so not unexpected), or something was discovered about Chouji that was scrambling administration. Not good.

"Would you do me a favor then, Ebisu-sensei?"

"What," was the growled response. Even their esteemed vice principal was unable to maintain his usual calm, cool, and collected routine right now. It _was_ big.

"Remind Asuma-sensei of the BeeGees."

"What?"

"Trust me. Just remind him of the BeeGees." He hung up the phone.

* * *

E Period came and Kakashi skipped his lunch to do some fact finding. The student body, usually his most reliable source of information, wouldn't be much help for this, since they hadn't seen whatever had occurred between Asuma and Chouji. Of course, the rumor mill for that would start working around lunchtime, but then that'd just be speculations. Some of the guesses might be accurate, but without enough knowledge to judge what was correct or not, it would be useless to start listening into the gossip mill. So his first stop was at the office. 

Shizune was in a nervous tizzy, running around, answering phones, making copies, and trying to answer questions from the people who came in, all by herself. One look at the other secretary's desk was enough to tell Kakashi that Shizune was flying solo and dealing with everything today. That meant she was extremely busy and unless someone told her something directly, she wouldn't have much in the way of information, since she was too busy just holding down the fort. He was able to glean a few facts, but nothing beyond what he already knew.

Next stop was in the guidance department. Jiraiya was in, Orochimaru, thankfully, was not. Unfortunately, that venue of information was useless as well. Chouji's guidance counselor was Orochimaru, and the snake was knee deep in whatever was going on. (Hopefully he wasn't stupid enough to conceal abuse this time around. Or maybe he was. It would be a perfect chance for Kakashi to work at getting him fired... But Chouji was still his first concern.) The Toad Sage didn't know what was going on other than the police had to be called in. Really, could Kakashi's Warning Sirens get any louder?

With a growing pit in his stomach, Kakashi went to his last regular source of information. Tsunade.

He was quite surprised to see Asuma sitting in one of the chairs behind the front desk, looking tired and exhausted. The Scarecrow walked over, slouched into a chair next to his mathematical colleague, and sighed.

"Long day, I take it?"

Asuma bit out a smoker's laugh. "Thanks for the BeeGees. I needed that laugh earlier. Hell, I need it now."

Kakashi waited.

"How much do you know?"

"Everything Sakura was able to tell me."

"That saves time." The Sudoku master let out a long sigh. "I noticed a strange smell on Chouji and added 1 plus 1 and got 10."

The Scarecrow ignored the reference to binary math. "I can guess where this is going."

"He's tested positive for drugs. Crack, I believe. The parents have been called in, the police will probably send dogs through the school to find anyone else who may have supplied or been supplied by Chouji."

"So the police are doing a round up?" Kakashi clarified.

"Yup."

"We're going to get fried on the news."

"Yup."

"Long day isn't the phrase."

"You think?"

"Ebisu says you won't make team?"

"...Probably not. I need to talk to the cops, the parents, social workers, etc."

"Full report tomorrow?"

"Naturally."

"_Stayin' Alive_?"

Asuma laughed.

* * *

Kakashi skipped team time himself, spending most of it barging in on every classroom, letting the teachers know that police with dogs would be going around in the school and to keep the students busy and out of the halls. Rumors didn't need to be spread around, and there'd be enough gossip with a police car out in front. 

When he finally checked in with his team, with almost ten minutes left, he laid it all out for them, naturally providing more information than Gai, to their shock and dismay. They agreed to keep the students busy during the next two periods.

"Wait a minute," Kurenai asked, "Don't police need a search warrant to get into student's lockers?"

"Aah, the finer points of educational law," Gai replied. "As I understand it, police can search without a warrant only if something is in plain sight, like say, seeing a packet of illegal contraband on the front seat of a car is enough for an esteemed officer to search said vehicle. Private property, such as homes and lockers and backpacks for students, do indeed require proper documentation in order search." The Green Beast flashed a thousand-watt smile. "But we educators and guardians of youth have no such restrictions! All we need is proper suspicion and we can search a bag, locker, or have a misguided student empty their pockets! As long as the officers do not tell us directly to search, but rather give us some sort of signal, we can then open the locked doors that officers could not and provide them with valuable evidence! We guardians of youth have many and varied responsibilities!"

"Oh," Kurenai replied. "Forgive my ignorance, but I haven't had to deal with this type of stuff before... So an officer just sort of nods to a teacher and they can search the locker, then the police take over?"

"Yes," Iruka nodded. "The difficulty will be that even though we assign individual lockers, several kids try and share lockers. I don't think Sachiko has used her locker since the first day. She just keeps all her stuff in Kagura's locker."

"Joy," Kakashi muttered as the bell rang.

* * *

Keeping the student's attention and focused was extremely difficult for the remaining two classes. After lunch, word had spread like wildfire that something had happened with Chouji and it didn't take them long to add that with the cops outside to get trouble. F Period went fairly well, but G Period was absolutely horrid. The distractions during F were the occasional bangs of lockers out in the halls, which many teachers kept their doors shut to avoid their students overhearing. But during the last period of the day, students knew that police with dogs were searching the school. Someone had seen a K-9 unit sniffing out lockers during their passing time and the wildfire rumors mounted to an inferno of guesses, speculation, and wild theories. Both Kakashi and Iruka had to stop class to talk about not jumping to conclusions without facts. 

After school, there was, of course, an emergency faculty meeting. Sandaime, with a heavy voice and a face that seemed to have aged ten years since Kakashi had last seen it that morning, explained about a student being found high and with drugs on his person, which led to a search of the school and other students being found in possession. Most of the offenders were in the seventh and eight grades, but there was a fifth grader found with cigarettes in his coat in his locker. Then, of course, since searches were being performed, there were other "contraband" items discovered (such as condoms, cigarettes, pen and swiss-army knives, pornographic materials, etc), and a whole mess of disciplinary actions that were being performed. The media was already ringing his office and he was issuing forth many "no comments" until he had all the information.

In short, the day had been a train wreck.

When Kakashi wandered tiredly back to his room to cover the Book Club meeting, he merely sat back, let them go about their business since they knew the routine by now, and started answering the parent emails that were already filling his inbox. As if the lockdown wasn't enough, this week was just going to be looong.

* * *

When the Book Club had adjourned, Kakashi stuck around preparing for the worst. He rearranged lesson plans to discuss the drug issue that would no doubt be the mainstay of gossip for a month, prepared information packets to give the students (and the parents), made generic emails for the many questions that would be fired his way so all he had to do was copy and paste, talked to everyone on his team, save Asuma who still hadn't returned, about what the following day would bring and how to handle it. 

It was pushing dinner time when he finally called it quits and just spread out on the couch, letting out a long sigh.

Chouji would be on a five-day OSS minimum for possession, assuming his parents didn't pull him out to get proper counseling. Thankfully, what he'd seen of the Akimachi's was very positive, though he had to wonder why they hadn't noticed their son's new habit. Of course, there would also be talk of expulsion for the students caught with drugs. The period of expulsion would be determined, but...

He sighed again. That night would be another sleepless night.

With another sigh, he sank further into the couch. There were still a million things he needed to do in preparation for tomorrow, but he just needed a damn break.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Break? No, of course not.

He sat up and looked at the head poking through his open door. "Shikamaru? You don't have after-school sports. What brings you here?"

He came in and hesitated for a moment. Kakashi stood and went back to his desk and, to his surprise; Shikamaru sat down on the couch. "Is Asuma-sensei still here? His room's dark."

Kakashi leaned back. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since E Period. He's probably still in the building somewhere, but I don't think I can reach him." He looked down. "I think he's going to have a later night than me today."

"Because of today?"

"Most likely."

This time, Shikamaru sighed, then lay down on the couch, his shorter size fitting easily between armrests. The exhausted English teacher said nothing, however, but leaned back and broadcasted his usual approachability. It appeared to him that Shikamaru had bought into the team more than his teammates. The young Nara boy's face was an open book of concern as he stared up at the ceiling tiles, his jaw trying to find words.

The silence continued.

"You need to talk," Kakashi stated quietly. "You want to talk to Asuma-sensei, but he's not available. My guess is that it can't wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"I'm listening."

"... It's all my fault isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Chouji."

"How?"

Shikamaru snorted. "He's my best friend. I knew something was up but I didn't say anything. I didn't do anything. I just watched. Watched him skip school, switch crowds, get meaner... everything. I saw all this and did nothing. Now he's going to be expelled and I could have stopped this."

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You _don't_?" the student asked incredulously. "Then let me make it clear. I'm supposed to be the leader of Team 10. Even if Ino isn't much of a member, Chouji is my best friend. I'm responsible for both of them. I can't do anything with Ino, but Chouji's my best friend. I knew something was wrong. He was hanging out with rougher, older kids that everyone _knows_ are into things. He was skipping school, and he's gotten a lot more angry and mean. I didn't even talk to him about it. I just watched him spiral down into this horrid misshapen jerk that he's become. Of_course_ it's my fault that he's now going to be expelled. That his parents aren't just grounding him but taking him to a rehab center. That I basically don't have a team anymore."

And there was the core of it. Shikamaru hated to be alone. While not the most social of students, it was relatively hard to ever find the cloud-watching boy alone. He usually hung out with Chouji, but if his best friend wasn't available, he could be found hanging out with Kiba or Naruto and even Ino from time to time. Now, the Nara boy was lazy and known for being lazy. He didn't always initiate conversation, nor did he always participate, but he was always there, proving his human need for social contact.

However, now a major aspect of his attempts and human interaction had not only deviated heavily from normal, but was now being taken away for an indeterminate amount of time. Shikamaru was naturally unbalanced by that, because Chouji was going to leave a void in his life that would require actual work to refill, and nothing would replace his best friend.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised to the level that Shikamaru had taken the team idea to heart. Ino and Chouji had become his mini-family, even if Ino wasn't buying into the team idea yet. Shikamaru was working with them to the best of his lazy streak, and given that he'd already been with his pudgy pal for years, he had a good system with him. All he'd needed to do was adjust his system for Ino, but she wasn't just going to be an addition. Ino needed to be a part, not an appendix. He made a mental note to talk to Ino the following day.

The Scarecrow also noted, that even though Shikamaru clearly considered Asuma his go-to teacher, the young Nara seemed to have enough confidence in Kakashi himself to take the English teacher's words to heart and even open up to him, even if he wasn't spilling all like he might with Asuma. Kakashi was oddly touched. But problems needed addressing right now.

"Shikamaru, have you ever seen me make a mistake?"

"Sorry?"

"Have I ever made a mistake in class?"

"NO! Of course not!"

"Hmm, you haven't been paying much attention then."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I've made some doozies. Especially if a parent rubs me the wrong way." Like the Hyugas. Oh yeah, the meeting with them was for tomorrow. Ergh. Back on topic. "My first year of teaching, I was warned about a set of parents who'd had several children go though the school system. I was told, flat out, by Asuma-sensei and Gai-sensei, that under no circumstances should I irritate the parent, and that no matter what, be gentle whenever giving criticisms."

He paused, leaning back and letting the darker memories of his Horrid First Year show him what he should have done. "Within the first week, the parents had called to discuss their son's failing vocab quiz grade. They met with me after school and proceeded to irritate me. I knew when I went into education that parents are hardly the Brady Bunch, or the Andersons from _Father Knows Best_ or the Cleaver's from _Leave it to Beaver_." He let out a low chuckle. "My own father was the perfect example of what a parent shouldn't be.

"But, let's just say they gave me a few good sucker punches in my expectations." That was, of course, putting it mildly. It was _not_ a good way to start the year and things just kept going downhill from there. "The meeting ended with them trying to get me fired. Since I didn't have tenure yet, it was a real concern, but that wasn't the worst of the situation. What happened to me was inconsequential. Their son, however, was a different story."

"What happened?"

"The short version? By the end of the year he was struggling so hard to meet his parent's expectations that he started cutting. He was failing because he wasn't turning in work and I wouldn't let him get away with that."

"You never do," Shikamaru snorted, having had his own experience in how not handing in work was equivalent of a death sentence in Kakashi's class.

"Well, I was a bit harsher back then. The parent's kept putting pressure on their son to succeed, but I wouldn't bend any of my rules to accommodate them, because they weren't being good parents in what I saw. The resulting pressure was too much for the boy and he started using a knife on himself to get relief. DCF ruled that nobody involved was really to blame, but really, I look back and know exactly what I should have done every step of the way."

The silence weighed heavily in the room, but Kakashi didn't mind. He never spoke about his first year. There many other similar stories, but that one was probably one of the worst. He knew where Shikamaru was coming from as far as responsibility was concerned, and he knew the boy wouldn't listen to anything he had to say unless he shared just how awful his own blunders had been.

"So... what do you do with it?"

Kakashi sighed as his automatic lights finally flicked off, settling them in darkness.

"I regret. I will always regret." That and a lot of other things. "But I can't change it. Can you go back and change what happened to Chouji?"

"... No."

"Neither can I go back and stop that student from using a blade as stress relief. I can learn from it. I am much more aware of myself when interacting with parents, colleagues, whomever. I work with whomever it takes to create the safest learning environment that I can. The boy has come back and spoken with me over the years. He's in college now, out of state. He'll have a bright future ahead of himself."

"So what do I do?"

"Continue to support Chouji. Be yourself, be his friend, be his confidant. There are going to be things he won't want to talk about with his parents or the shrinks. Let him be able to talk about it with you. If you see or hear him starting to do something dangerous again, contact me or Asuma-sensei. We'll know the steps to take."

Kakashi stood up, letting the light flood the room again. "But while you're helping Chouji with his burdens, make sure you have someone in your corner to share your burdens."

"But what if he doesn't want me to be his friend any more?"

"Then he wasn't much of a friend to begin with. It will hurt. A lot. And for a while, but you have other people that can be your friends as well."

Shikamaru said nothing. Just nodded and got up and left.

Sinking back into his chair once more, Kakashi went back to preparing for the onslaught.

* * *

The following day was another round of listening to parents, talking to parents, and dealing with the mess that the media had made of drugs being found on school grounds. Despite only arriving as the bell rang during homeroom, Kakashi was already answering his phone to "concerned citizens", parents, and offering his own sets of "No Comment"s. He barely had a chance to call Asuma, who sounded more exhausted than Kakashi felt, to send Ino down. 

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" the blond girl intoned, once she was in front of his desk. Behind her, she shot a glance at Sakura who was deep in conversation with Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto had been concerned all morning that he hadn't noticed anything in his fellow student and was trying to take on some of the responsibility that Shikamaru was holding on his own shoulders.

"Ino, what do you think of what happened to your teammate?"

For the briefest moment, there was a flash of something in her eyes. Something very promising for Kakashi, even if he couldn't name what he'd seen.

"It's sad," she replied, her voice sincere. "I know Chouji works hard at school, even if he doesn't get the best grades... He was kinda sweet, actually, though no one can be as sweet as Sasuke-kun."

"You're wandering off topic. And that wasn't the teammate I was referring to."

Ino blinked, looking confused.

"Shikamaru? What happened to him?" The Scarecrow leveled an even look at her, one she cringed under, starting to look defiant. "What?" she demanded.

"Ino, he's just lost his best friend and he thinks it's all his fault."

"What!" she screeched. "That lazy idiot! Doesn't he know anything?! There was nothing he could do!"

"Are you sure you should be saying that to me?"

Ino glared down at him, before turning to stomp off. She paused at Team 7.

"Asuma-sensei wants you in homeroom," she growled, taking each of their wrists and proceeded to drag the two out of his class. The male members of the team did not like this however. Scowling, they pulled their appendages free before sending identical apologetic looks to Sakura, and following Ino back to homeroom.

The English teacher spent the remainder of homeroom, a good chunk of the first two periods, and the entirety of C Period answering phone calls, replying to emails, and discussing things with students. Iruka would wander in from time to time, frazzled, and irritable, to get information or take sample pamphlets that Kakashi had made. Kurenai stopped by once during C Period to get a little support on the sheer heaviness of what they were dealing with, including the idiots who thought that being on drugs was funny, and Gai's voice could be easily heard across the hall as he dealt with similar boneheads.

It was exhausting, answering the same questions over and over again to the same, or different people. When SSR came, he unplugged his phone, shut off his computer screen, and left his desk to sit with the students and just read. Sasuke and Sakura both noted the behavior and whenever a student came over to ask something, Sasuke shot them a glare before they shuddered and sat back down. Kakashi was grateful, even if he could take care of it himself.

The "alone time" was rejuvenating, though he still bore a slight headache when he finally reached team time, bringing up a sandwich from the cafeteria. Inside, as Kakashi had done in the previous period, Asuma had unplugged his phone and shut down his computer. The door was locked and the lights were off.

The math teacher had turned easily fifteen years older over the course of one night. He was slumped forward on his desk, his head in the crook of his arms, his eyes just barely open. Iruka didn't grumble at Kakashi's lateness, but was rubbing his eyes, also looking tired. The English teacher slumped into his chair and looked around.

"Kurenai? How did it go with the Hyuga?"

She snorted. "I tried to be as tactful as I could. They've been having a good relationship with me because Hinata does pretty well in science, but when I broached other subjects, like math and history, they immediately started berating her! And she was right there! Her mother might be supportive, but the father dominates conversation and won't let anyone get a word in edgewise!

"When I suggested possible study habits for Hinata to try and improve her grades, the father told me that there was nothing wrong with her study habits, it was just a lack of motivation. Poor Hinata just sat there! She didn't say a thing, just turned red-faced and looked ready to cry. The mother might be willing to try out my suggestions, but she'll be doing it over the father's dead body!"

She took a long steadying breath before tearing open her lunch bag and angrily pouring salad dressing over the salad she'd prepared the previous night. "I tried to talk to Hinata afterward, but she didn't say anything and went quietly off to class. I could _strangle_ her father!"

Kakashi absorbed it and turned to Asuma. "I told them most of what you told me yesterday. Anything to add?"

Asuma sighed, his eyes closed. "Not much. Parents were dumbfounded. He always came home on time and acted normally. Apparently, Chouji's been making sure he's sober at home. Hence skipping. He usually disappears to the bathroom at some point during the day to snort. They were discussing things with me, Ebisu, Sandaime, and Orochimaru until about five o'clock last night. Then I had to do all my usual shit. Thank God I had a spare set of clothes in the car. I haven't been home yet."

Iruka whistled.

"Such travesties," Gai sighed. "After discovering students who abuse their fellow youth with rumors and lies, we discover other charges of the future who instead poison themselves for reasons that make no sense or are not provided. This school year has been perhaps one of the most trying for we teachers in many years."

"We haven't had a year this fucking bad. Period."

They all sat together in silence, the weight of their student's problems heavy on their shoulders. The five of them cared dammit. A lot. But at that moment, there wasn't much they could do. Be there, offer advice and support, but they couldn't live their student's lives. They couldn't walk in and force the changes necessary to improve their situations. Instead, they were helpless. Only ever able to offer words to the students that needed it. In the end, it was up to the child to use those words or not. It was up to the child to seek them out for guidance.

Kakashi's eye throbbed.

"Okay," he stated, drawing himself up, "we've been covered in shit. Now we clean up, like we always do." He turned to Kurenai. "Try and make some inroads with the mother, especially in regards to letting Hinata stay over at a friend' s house. I'll talk to Shino and push him into having study meetings at his house. Kiba may not make it over, but Hinata should. It will be peaceful for her. Also encourage her to seek other places to study, even here after school if she has to."

"Ah," she looked up, dumbfounded. "Right."

"Asuma, Ino's probably going to start bothering Shikamaru. Encourage it, let Ino join you during SSR and start cementing a little bit of a relationship. Suggest study sessions after school together. Talk about Chouji with them. Make sure they know it's not their fault and that it was beyond their control. Send them to Jiraiya if they don' take the hint.

"Iruka, Naruto, and probably some of your other kids are blaming themselves. Start working on that. If Chouji _does_ come back this year, he's going to have a lot of teasing and bullying to work through. Start making a support system for him in resource if you can or at least let them know you're aren't putting up with anything.

"Gai, I want you talking with administration. Talk with Jiraiya, Ebisu, Sandaime, Tsunade. Keep our lines of communication open. Bring this up at the union meeting and see what their thoughts are. This type of situation isn't covered in union guidelines, but you'll have a bunch of conscientious teachers all in one place. Use it. See where it goes.

"I'll be the go-to for parents. If any of them contact you with questions, forward them to me and I'll take care of it. I'll also see if I can do some damage control from the frying the media did to us. It may be only our team, but it will be something. I'll also be at the board of ed meeting next week and work on them."

His team stared at him.

"Who are you," Iruka asked, "and what have you done to Kakashi?"

"I fought overseas," the Scarecrow replied, a dark look flitting across his eyes. Of course, this was the first time he'd ever had to call on that spine-of-steel in order to deal with his team. Normally, while they'd get disturbed, options were still being discussed, so he didn't need to interfere. The last thing Kakashi ever wanted to do with his team was interfere and make them feel like he was a tyrant or bossy, plus, he had a lazy persona to maintain. This was the first time since he started teaching that his team was being dragged down by the sludge their student's lives had thrown at him. He wouldn't stand for it. They were there for the children, and by God, if the Scarecrow needed to revert to his military training to make them be so, he would.

* * *

The bell had rung and Iruka hurried off to Kakashi's room to start preparing for the students while the Scarecrow hung back. He sat at Asuma's desk and watched the math teacher start his lesson. Iruka would no doubt be annoyed since Kakashi was going to be later than usual to class, but the English teacher felt a particular need to know that Asuma wasn't showing his stress to the students. He stayed for about fifteen minutes before the Go Master threw a sample problem on the board for the students to practice and walked over. 

"I'm fine. Get going."

Kakashi smiled and wandered around the corner back to his room.

"Your late!" Iruka, Sakura, Naruto, Ino, Temari, and Kiba all proclaimed.

"I'm sorry, I was caught in this strange portal that let me turn into a ghost with a mere thought and fight the sneaky specters that invade our world--"

"Liar!"

"If you insist," he grinned. Iruka continued presenting after letting the students have their chuckles, and Kakashi only added where he thought it was necessary. Mostly, he was wandering around the students. Today's topic of discussion was, of course, about drugs and what they did. Students were taking the opportunity to talk about older siblings who used to get high, or about a friend of a friend who was busted for usage or selling. Sasuke added depth when he brought up the addictions of nicotine and alcohol.

The class discussed how addiction changes a person, what it does to a person's lifestyle, how it forces them into other crimes like stealing, breaking and entering, etc. in order to maintain the habit. Sakura was able to talk about some of the physical effects, since she spent so much time with Tsunade, and Naruto talked a little bit about how anyone he'd seen who was an addict to anything (and he'd seen a lot, it sounded like, during his time in the foster system), always ended up really mean and cold.

Through it all, Kakashi watched the students. Most were curious, thoughtful, or concerned. Teams 2 and 4 thought it was a joke, but didn't display it overtly, and he addressed both teams quietly, telling them to either listen, or leave. Overall, Kakashi was very pleased with how they were all doing. He just hoped they could keep up this sanity when life started getting difficult for them as they got older.

Finally, however, Kakashi noted Team 10. Shikamaru was sitting back, withdrawn and not participating in the conversation and Ino was trying to prod him into talking. With complete nonchalance he sat down in Chouji's normal seat and listened to the discussion, adding various points he thought necessary.

As the class continued to go over the affects on family and friends, Kakashi looked to Ino. "I appreciate you're trying to get him to open up," he said. "But don't force it. He'll open up when he's ready." He looked over to Shikamaru. "I realize that you're missing him right now, but you're going to have to think about the rest of your team. You've lost one, but he'll be back. For now, you need to work with what you have, or you'll end up hurting yourself. Would he want to come back and find you in the state you're in?"

Both looked at Kakashi, then at each other.

"This is so troublesome."

"That's my line."

The English teacher got up, and walked up to the front of the room, standing beside Iruka. There was a pause in discussion that Kakashi used to summarize what they had all been discussing.

"Alright, I'm going to want an journal from you."

The class groaned.

"Well, the state tests are approaching, and you'll be needed some practice with writing."

Hinata paled in the back and trembled.

"The topic should be," he turned to the board. "How do drugs affect your everyday life? Is the affect good or bad? If bad, what _will_," he underscored this, "you do to stop it? I also want a second journal entry about what you can do to prevent getting hooked on drugs. Both of these entries will be completely confidential."

Already, students were pulling out their journals and starting to scribble.

"I want a lot of thought in these entries, not just you parroting back what you've heard, because I'll be taking one of these journal entries and turning it a graded assignment."

The class groaned again, but Iruka was smiling where he was leaning against the door. With the task given, Kakashi went back to his desk and appeared for all the world to be doing some paperwork.

"Shino, can I see you for a moment?"

The quiet boy came to his desk, his eyes obscured by his dark prescription shades. "Yes, sensei?"

"Keep Hinata out of her house."

"Excuse me?"

"When you do study sessions, find somewhere to do it away from her house. Go to the library, a restaurant, the park, your house, I don't care where, study away from Hinata's house."

Looking down, Shino frowned. "Because of her father?"

Kakashi nodded, pleased that Shino seemed to know his team so well. "Yes. If things keep going this way, she'll break, and I'd much rather avoid that."

Shino nodded. "Kiba hates coming to my house. I'll find somewhere else."

Good. Hopefully the next week would be nice and quiet. Kakashi needed a break.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This is a bunch of different things. Image had a student who was high demanding ISS from her once, however, neither of us have dealt _this _directly with drugged students and searches. We have talked with other teachers who have, however. Also, Gai's speech about police-v-teachers searching student property is true. Police need a warrant; teachers need just suspicion. Would it really occur so quickly? We're not as certain on that, but it would be dealt with. Lots of this has been pulled from student handbooks and stories that we've heard.

**InoShikaCho**: We hope you liked this chapter. Since you started reviewing, we've been wondering how you would take this. We hope it works out okay for you. Sorry we disagree on Kankuro's grade last chapter. Remember, Sand didn't have a large ninja population, so those that became shinobi had to be exceptional. Plus, Kankuro is a manipulator, he has to have brains to keep it all straight. In any case, that's our rational for it. It made sense to us. Meh. Chouji's little arc in this chapter was inspired by how delicately he treats those pills he takes when facing the Sound ninja. He _really_ didn't want to take them if he didn't have to because of the side affects, so we had to wonder, why such caution? And we knew we'd need a drug story line in this fic and it fit in very well. This also explains why poor Chouji's been so out of character. We really hope you enjoyed.

**Dochii**: No worries. We don't force people into reviewing, so if you miss a week, that's fine. We'd just get concerned if you were gone for a while. After our stint with the ICU the past two weeks, we'd be worried about you. Well, aside from actually getting online to post stories and proofread, this story is already done. We finished it around Thanksgiving(ish) and we're just putting it up one chapter at a time. Our only concern with so much time at the hospital was if we'd actually get online. So far, it's been working out and I hope that it continues. In our ideal dreams, our mother will come home this week, given that she's up on a walker (for only one lap around the ICU, but hey, she's up at last!) and they moved her out of the ICU last night. We'll see. Neither of us want to get our hopes up and be disappointed. grins We're glad the Asuma-cheer-up worked out so well and that everyone's been enjoying it. Yes, lockdowns can be terrifying once you realize that it's real and not a drill. There are some, however (imagines several faces) who never take this kind of thing seriously. Those are the dangerous ones. Don't worry about Neji. He's going to get a Falcon Punch when Bloody April comes around. Heheheheheh. knowing laughter And thus, Chouji's arc has come to light.

**Jill Bioskop**: hands her a Naruto plushie of her choice You got it. Chouji didn't join a gang, per se, but he did go on drugs. Keen eyes! nods Our parents always said that a child should be rasied to the child's potential, not the parents. In other words, encourage the child to be who they are supposed to be and not live through them. We hope you're enjoying.

**Spider Wench**: nods again Yes, the signals used for lockdowns can be pretty silly. The one we've been using is the most sublte, but we've hear some doozies. From coded PA annoucnements to blaring alarms. We're glad you enjoy the moments that Kakshi and Iruka have together. Next month, they'll be having a bigger moment. As of this chapter, Ino's going to be a little busy to keep up the boy-chasing thing, though you might see more bizarre coupling through the rest of the story. She's got bigger fish to fry right now. A 92? And you did you best? That shouldn't have been a problem, that should have been praised! Gomen yo, that you had to go through that. As of this chapter, Chouji has the help he's going to need. nods Shino would have done better, but Kiba's issues are bringing down the teamwork grade. We see Shino as a solid B student. Itachi? Coming back? whistles tunelessly

**Narutard Teacher**: Believe us, as fellow teachers, we know how busy things can get. We hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thank you (and everyone else for that matter) for the concern over our Mom. She's very weak, given that her body's been to hell and back, but each day there's a little improvement, and with her constantly saying that she wants to go home, both of us are always smiling.

**Ryuu-chan**: Yes, Team 7 is a good little crew, aren't they? They all support each other in their own way and help each other in any way that they can. They're so much fun to write about.

**Simply Manialoll**: Sounds like we aren't the only two who have loved ones in need of medical attention. :( We hope your best friend gets better soon. Chemotherapy? That's cancer right? offers prayers We're so glad you enjoyed our recent chapters. beams Be glad you don't get lockdowns. They're either scary or boring. (Nobody every believes it's boring... Imagine just sitting still and silent for twenty minutes. Boredom to the extreme when you think it's just a drill.) Thank you for the well-wishes and we offer some of our own to you.


	23. Week 22

**February: Week Twenty-Two**

* * *

Given the abnormal occurrences of the last two weeks, Kakashi decided to take the weekend and immerse himself in normalcy. He spent the majority of Saturday going through his bank statements and credit cards and bills, surprised that it didn't balance on his first try. The reason behind it simply was that he'd forgotten that he'd switched his life insurance (finally) to direct withdrawal from his account, and noticing it, he made the entries in his checkbook and was happy that the end accounts were the same. 

He also took the time to pay his bills; his credit card and his cell phone bill had both snuck up on him, and he regretted how much of this week's paycheck was delegated to catching up on the money he owed.

Afterward, he did a complete wash of two thirds of his clothes and turned the music up while he ironed, a funny habit that soothed his mind. In the evening, he went out for pizza and came home to watch a DVD. By Sunday; he felt much more refreshed and moved on to the next item of normalcy: food shopping.

It should be stated that, amongst the pile of points that he made, he made a point of not being seen by students outside of school. Outside the fact that, for certain students, he really didn't want to see them more than he absolutely had to, he disliked the overall novelty a student or former student felt when he or she saw him; regardless of who the child would rush over and say, "Hi, Kakashi-sensei! Do you remember me?" and leave him to try and guess who the student was - this was particularly difficult for students he hadn't seen for several years. This was not because he couldn't remember the name, Kakashi was one of the few teachers alive that had a good memory with names and faces, but instead because the student was now upwards of a foot taller, covered in pimples or now sporting a goatee, or had filled out and was heavily made up, or some of the other radical changes that happened to children under the umbrella term of "growth." Some students were rendered unrecognizable over time, and his being unable to recognize them always crushed them and Kakashi didn't really want to do that to a student, former or otherwise.

This Sunday, however, he decided to take a chance and went to the local supermarket, just up the street from the school. He'd prepared for the chance encounter, and was dressed completely in sweats underneath his large overcoat. The weather was still in the twenties outside, and so he pulled a scarf over his chin as he got into his car to make the ever-familiar drive to - er, past - school to the supermarket.

He'd had almost a full page of groceries to make up for. Outside of his empty fridge he'd run out of other household items; soap, toilet paper, plastic bags, and other amenities.

So he was in the paper goods isle, pulling out a packet of Styrofoam bowls, when he saw a familiar face turn the corner and jog down the isle. Uchiha Sasuke was nearing sprinting speed, and when the boy looked up Kakashi realized that he'd unwrapped his scarf when he'd come in to the overheated supermarket. Damn!

But, to his surprise, the boy ran up and didn't say "Hi Kakashi-sensei!" which in itself would have been slightly disturbing because Sasuke wasn't the type, but instead ran up and said, "Hide me."

Kakashi blinked.

"My brother... hide me," he said again.

The immediate image of the bored-faced man with Obito's eye color grabbing his throat filled his mind. The Scarecrow reacted instantly.

"Under the cart, now. Make yourself as small as you can." Sasuke dipped down and disappeared as he crawled into the shopping carts undercarriage. Looking around, Kakashi reached up to a high shelf and grabbed a wrapped eight-pack of paper towels. He bend down stuffed it at the front end of the cart. Sasuke was struggling to curl himself into a ball; had the boy been any taller or any heavier he wouldn't have been able to do it, but he was finally able to pinch his legs up against his chest and have one hand grip the wire frame of the cart above him and the steel leg of one of the wheels. Kakashi secured the huge package of paper towel rolls and stood up, grabbing the two things nearest him, a box of plastic forks and a bag of plastic bowls and put on a show of examining them in detail.

Kakashi cast his senses out, but there were too many people in the supermarket. This was a Sunday, and weekends were when the vast majority of the universe did their shopping. Frowning, he realized he would have to cut this short. The checkout stands were directly behind him; he could hear their beeping drone. Letting out a sigh, he pushed up his headband and slowly tugged and pushed his now much heavier cart one hundred eighty degrees around and made his way there.

Someone was looking out for him, because he was able to quickly find a station that only had two other people in it. He slid his cart in and waited. The genius of a supermarket was that all the most popular and incidentally most expensive items were right at eye level; only the smart shopper would crouch down or reach up because the normal person only took in what a sweep of his eyes could see. Sasuke was perfectly hidden under an overloaded cart with a roll of paper towels, and now in between shelves of reader's digests, horoscopes, magazines, and candy bars, he might as well be invisible to the eye.

The English teacher bent down to reach for a chocolate bar and turned to the boy. Close inspection showed unhidden fear in the boy's eyes. He was pale and trying desperately to stop himself from shaking.

"Did he see you?"

"Yeah," he whispered, petrified to say anything louder. "He started moving to me, so I ran. He looked like he was going to hit me again."

"I'll give you my coat when we get to the parking lot, put it on and walk by my side. It's big enough that your clothes will be hidden, so just keep your head down and let me do the talking if it comes to it."

The boy nodded, scared out of his mind but able to process what Kakashi was telling him. The Scarecrow stood and began unbuttoning his overcoat. Then he grabbed his own wrist and squeezed, hard, digging his nails in and scrapping them against his flesh. The pain was sharp, but he showed no evidence of it, as it finally became his turn to unload his cart.

"Excuse me," he said genially to the checkout boy. "I had a bit of a run-in with another customer, and I'd like to have someone, your manager perhaps, talk to the man."

"That's not really my job, sir," the teenager said, flatly indifferent.

"Well, I'm not one to make a big deal of things. It was my fault, really; my cart ran into his. I apologized but he became extremely foul-tempered. He made all kinds of threats and accusations, some of them I wouldn't dream of repeating. I would have let it go at even that, but then he grabbed me." Kakashi showed his now pink wrist with the scrapes of his nails. _That_ immediately got the boy's attention. "I know this establishment wouldn't allow that kind of behavior, would it?"

"No sir, let me call my manager."

Pleasantly, the manager came right away and was aghast when Kakashi showed him his wrist. "I'm very sorry that this happened, sir," he said apologetically.

"Well," Kakashi said, continuing to be genial as he helped bag his purchases. "You certainly don't have control over your own customers. I was wondering if he could be talked to, however, discouraged from making that kind of scene in the future, you understand."

"Certainly, sir."

"The man didn't give his name, obviously, but he's hard to miss. He's perhaps four inches shorter than me, longish black hair, his face is a little sunken in, and he has bright red eyes."

The manager was nodding, apparently having already seen Itachi. "You'll forgive me if I don't stick around," Kakashi added quickly, pushing his heavy cart. "His threats were very detailed, and I don't particularly want to stick around knowing he's in the building." Not waiting for a reply, Kakashi made a show of hurrying in his bagging process and was more than pleased when the manager disappeared. He saw Sasuke briefly as he was reloading his cart and winked at him before putting a plastic bag of groceries in front of him.

He pushed his cart out to the parking lot and took off his coat; the boy slowly unknotted himself and crawled out, taking the coat and shifting it onto his small frame. Kakashi looked briefly back into the store, but saw nothing, so he made his way purposefully to the car, keeping his eyes and senses open. Loading the car went quickly with two people, and Kakashi ushered Sasuke into the backseat of his car, telling him to stay low until he said so, before getting in himself and slamming the door closed. He looked briefly at the icicle ornament Iruka had given him that year. It was overcast, leaving no light for it to reflect.

Taking a breath to steel himself, he turned on the car and turned the music up before driving out, taking the roundabout route home that he sometimes did on schooldays when he needed to get his head on straight.

"What about your foster?" he asked, finally turning the music down after ten minutes of driving.

"He's not there. He got called in for another kid," he said slowly. His voice was stronger now, but the boy was still hidden in the backseat.

"Naruto and Sakura?"

"No! Just... no..."

That had not been the reaction he had been expecting, and Kakashi realized very suddenly that Sasuke probably didn't have anyone else to go to. The thought was slightly disturbing, Kakashi was far from qualified to deal with things like this, and he knew for a fact that he wasn't mentally healthy enough to be what Sasuke was looking for. Frowning at a stoplight, a car honked him before he realized it had turned green.

Out of options, Kakashi broke one of his most sacred rules: he took Sasuke home with him.

Pulling into his driveway, he gave the All Clear, and serendipitously started dropping grocery bags into Sasuke's hands, weighing the boy down before getting his own fist-load and letting the two of them in. With the extra hands it took three trips to and from the car instead of the usual half dozen, and Kakashi cordially offered Sasuke the couch while he started putting things away. It wasn't long before he heard the TV turn on, and the teacher grinned slightly as he continued. Once the perishables were in the fridge, the non-perishables in the cabinets, and the miscellaneous in their proper homes, he pulled out a two cans of soda and tossed one to Sasuke before turning off the TV by hand and leaning against the wall.

"So."

"So."

Kakashi prayed a crowbar wouldn't be needed. He started simple. "Why not Naruto or Sakura?"

The boy looked away, shamed, hiding his head with his thick mass of hair. "Do you really wear that on the weekends, too?" he said, changing subject.

Kakashi put his hand to his head, only just realizing he was still wearing the hitae'ate that had sold so well after Halloween. "Oh," he said, slightly surprised. "I guess its just habit now. I don't even think about it anymore. You still wear yours."

Sasuke blinked, putting his own hand to his forehead, feeling the plastic plate, and running his finger over the stylized leaf symbol. "... Oh," he said simply.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

"All right," Kakashi said. "The PS2 is on the VCR, I think I have an RPG in it right now. Mindlessly leveling up always relieves stress for me. I can picture the students as my enemy!" he added in a light tone.

Sasuke stared at him incredulously before realizing that there really was a platform on the VCR, and he tentatively took the controller and powered it up. For the next three hours, Kakashi and Sasuke bumped the characters at least a dozen levels, to the point where the random-encounter battles were boring and hardly worth their time. Kakashi offered the occasional color commentary, throwing in a student's name at random and an appropriate comment. Sasuke was clearly trying not to laugh, the grin of mirth wide on his face as he listened to Kakashi's increasingly inventive overtures of ownership.

By the time six rolled around, Sasuke looked much more relaxed; the color had returned to his face and it was more controlled now, instead of the blank fear of earlier. Kakashi pulled out some of his pizza from last night and stuck it in the mircowave.

"Do you think you can talk to me now?" he asked. "Or do you want me to drop you off somewhere?"

The boy started, apparently having (at least temporarily) forgotten why he was here to begin with. He frowned and looked down again, becoming silent. The only noise in the kitchen was the drone of the microwave until it dinged in completion of its task. Kakashi pulled out the slices of pizza and put one on either side of the table before pouring two glasses of diet orange soda.

Obviously not getting an answer, Kakashi tried a different avenue. "Do you know if a restraining order has been passed? For Itachi I mean?"

Sasuke started again. "You can do that?"

"Of course," Kakashi said. "You're a minor, so an adult would have to process it."

The boy frowned. "Kabuto didn't show me anything. I didn't sign anything."

"It's easy enough to check. Call the police station and mention that there was an infraction against it, and they'll look it up. If it doesn't exist, then you can ask to have the forms drawn up."

"But you said I need an adult...?"

"Put me on the phone when it comes to it. I still have the notes on all your injuries beforehand."

The boy looked down again, a habit the English teacher had seen all year when the boy was thinking.

"I should be able to do this myself," he growled (actually growled!) as he pounded his fist onto the table. "I shouldn't have to need help. I should be over this by now! Orochimaru-sensei said--"

"Stop right there," Kakashi said, surprising the boy with the vehemence, almost venom, in his voice. "I normally don't interfere with student decisions, but I have to make one thing clear: _never_ listen to Orochimaru. Never." The boy looked like he was about to protest, an expression of indignation on his face, but Kakashi spoke over whatever Sasuke started to say. "You want power, right? Power to handle your brother by yourself. That's how Orochimaru sells it; you'll be able to trample the people who hurt you. What he doesn't say is that there are many types of power. Let's look at the kind he's offering.

"Who would you say is the most powerful kid in your grade? Ino? She can make the boys flock to her and has half the middle school wrapped around her finger. Is she happy? Does she look pleased whenever you're with Sakura? What about Temari, she has a lot a clout, too, but does she spend every day grinning from ear to ear? What about Shikamaru; he's the smartest kid in your grade. Is he happy now that Chouji's gone? Is Hinata happy with the wealth and privilege that she has?"

He paused, letting the information absorb for a moment before pushing on. "The kind of power Orochimaru is offering is based entirely on if you're alone. Let's examine that for a minute; Naruto was alone for heaven knows how long. Was he happy? How about Sakura?" he pushed, seeing Sasuke squirm. "She tried to handle all that bullying by herself. Wasn't she so proud, elated?"

"Shut up!"

"And let's look at you," he pressed, not even pausing to acknowledge the outburst. "Weren't you thrilled with going through all that abuse on your own?"

"Shut up!!" Sasuke said again, louder, pounding his fist onto the table again. "Shut up..." he whispered.

"Sasuke, there are many kinds of power," Kakashi said slowly, in a softer tone, "and you're only twelve years old. You just don't have enough experience to deal with these kinds of things, and frankly nobody's expecting you do. Even at fifteen you can't be expected to handle it, but you at least are mature enough to try it at that age. But let me tell you right now, doing it all yourself is a surefire way to push everyone away. Including me," he added, putting the last nail in the coffin.

Sasuke snapped to attention, his face furious even as his mind absorbed the information behind his eyes and realized the truth of the Scarecrow's words.

Too hard? Kakashi had felt an irrational frustration at the mention of Orochimaru; the words fell out of his mouth, and only after the fact did he realize that he was pulling a Class A mind job on a twelve year old. He hid his head behind his hand and sighed. Sasuke didn't have that much in the way of a support system, Kakashi himself was one of the few he felt comfortable enough to come to with his problems with Itachi; and now he'd threatened to remove his support if he didn't do as told - a move Itachi would and no doubt had done. What and idiot!

"I'm sorry," he said finally; suddenly feeling very old. "I shouldn't have said all of that."

Sasuke said nothing, staring at his fist blankly on the table.

Damage control. Kakashi got up and got his keys. "Come on, let's go."

He got up in mute reply and followed the English teacher, and Kakashi mindlessly drove him to the place that would do the most good: Sakura's house. The Haruno's were thrilled to see Sasuke, but a little confused to see Kakashi as the escort.

"Is everything alright?" the father asked.

"Oh, yes, I was driving around and saw him freezing in the cold, so I offered to give him a ride. I'm sure the entire school population knows about it by now and will be spreading all kinds of rumors; we wouldn't want this week to be dull, would we?" he added with a wry, bitter smile.

"Parasites, the media," the mother said, verbally waving her support flag. "Don't listen to a thing they say, we certainly don't."

Kakashi grinned weakly, knowing he couldn't take much more acting. "Could you pass on a message to Sakura before you leave the two of them alone?" he asked. When they nodded he continued, "Tell her to talk to him about being alone. He needs to hear about it right now."

The Haruno's were confused but sensed Kakashi's unwillingness to explain.

It was a long drive home.

* * *

Iruka was absent Monday, but that didn't really surprise anyone, given the cold temperatures. They all assumed it was because of his accident; on some days he was too stiff to move, let alone maintain the grueling schedule of teaching. 

Tuesday came, however, and Kakashi saw dark circles under the special education teacher's eyes when he came in. "Iruka?" he asked.

He turned a tired face to Kakashi. His hair, normally pulled back into a tight ponytail, was unkempt, stray hairs zigzagging this way and that. His clothes were rumpled, wrinkled, and looked overall as if they hadn't been washed. The limp was significant, and there was a dead look in his tired eyes.

"She died," he said simply. "On Saturday. She died." Tears welled up, and Kakashi realized that Iruka's mother had passed away.

"Oh, Iruka..." The English teacher really had no ability to deal with tears, and all he could think of to do was awkwardly put a hand on his fellow teacher's shoulder. "You'd said she'd taken a turn for the worse earlier this year, right?"

Iruka bowed his head down, fighting to get himself under control. "Yeah. It's been coming since Christmas. My brother flew in from California yesterday, that's why I was absent. The funeral is Thursday." His entire frame bowed lower, as if the information he was giving was heavy to even think about. Kakashi frowned, his brain unable to generate an appropriate thing to do or say.

"Hey sensei! Are you two going out or something?"

The pair snapped to attention immediately, and Kakashi gave a scornful detention to Kankuro for inappropriate conduct. It was too late, however, the entire hallway had heard it, and the silver haired man just _knew_ what was going to come over the next few days. He'd laugh, if he didn't feel so damn shitty.

The others teachers were equally sympathetic during team, and soon Kakashi just gave up and ordered Iruka to go sleep on his couch for a while so he could look a little less dead. There was a half smile under it all, and the English teacher took that as a good sign.

* * *

All things considered, by the time it was Thursday, Kakashi was ready to swear up and down that it was Saturday, and he couldn't understand why on earth he was driving in. He was also (in his mind justifiably) clueless as to what day it was. The chocolate and heart displays at the supermarket over the weekend had gone by unnoticed, and frankly he was trying very hard not to think about the weekend. It wasn't until he saw a giant stuffed bear with a lacy pink heart tied around its neck that he realized the awful truth. 

It was Valentine's Day.

Someone upstairs must have hated him.

The entire day was spent with chocolate, candy, lollipops, sugar, flowers, hearts, and stuffed animals. This was to say nothing of the memories of Rin. Normally he'd had time to prepare for the horrible day, but as stated it snuck up on him, and he almost couldn't deal. As it was, he found himself constantly repeating the phrase "Bah! Humbug!" whenever someone wished him a Happy Valentine's Day. The holiday was celebrated vehemently, culminating in someone, presumably from Sasuke's fan club, putting a stink bomb in Sakura's locker. The hallways stunk most of the day because the girl was absent and it took a long time to determine where the stench was coming from. Meanwhile Ino was again working her magic; being caught several times kissing with her latest catch, and Temari was virtually surrounded by a harem of boys. Even Kurenai, who'd again surprised everyone by giving them all white chocolate lollipops during team couldn't break Kakashi's foul mood. Gai covered for him for the most part, saying something about the days of love being wasted on a man who'd already lost his, but couldn't go further because Kakashi simply got up and left team, unable to act normal anymore.

F period was particularly annoying. Sasuke was still brooding over what Kakashi had said over the weekend, and overall reminded the Scarecrow of what a screw up he was. Ino, meanwhile, was determined to put a lovey-dovey smile on the dark boy's face by any means necessary. Sakura was absent and Naruto only served to escalate the situation. Shikamaru tried to run interference but simply couldn't understand how Ino worked, and this was all before Teams 6 and 9 got involved to cheer them all on. With Iruka absent and no sub to help field the fire, Kakashi was forced to send both Teams out of the room. Kiba and Gaara were both muttering under their breath, one out of unnamed irritation and the other having the beginnings of another episode before Kakashi called Tsunade and sent the boy to the nurse's office.

By the time the day ended, Kakashi was near collapse. He shut and locked his door, not even noticing Gai watching him make his way to his car and driving to a familiar location.

The Konoha Memorial Cemetery was an old haunt for Kakashi. He visited Obito's grave the most, and the English teacher promised to visit in a moment, but today was about Rin.

Between her and Yellow Flash, they'd pulled Kakashi back to some measure of sanity after his tour of duty, after Obito's horrific death and the loss and renewal of his eye. It was rather classic, really, she was one of the nurses for physical therapy, and their relationship had jumped from there. She had seen his tears; his regrets; his guilt at living when Obito was so much more worthy, had so much more to give. He'd told her about his promise on his deathbed, to help people. It was Rin who'd gotten him his first job, a D.C. desk position to start off with before he rose in the ranks. But it wasn't satisfactory to him; the work he did didn't have any immediate affect on people, and between the two of them they had decided he should try teaching.

He hadn't been sure what to teach at first, anything would do. It had been Rin who had suggested English, given his propensity to read porn, she added with a smile. With her having finished her schooling, he went back to school - a novel experience now that he was so much older, and oddly much more enjoyable. He flew through the coursework, and they slowly began planning their future.

It was three days before he started his first teaching job that the accident happened. Rin was in the ER when the patient had a bad reaction to the medication, suffering convulsions that no one was expecting. She was trying to get restraints on him, Kakashi was told, when the man struck her in the head and she fell backwards, striking her head again on the edge of a table and again on the floor. She suffered from swelling of the brain, and a week later she died in his arms, just as he had come to tell her how much he loved teaching.

That was the beginning of his horrible First Year. Gai and Asuma and the rest of the team didn't learn about any of it until November, when Gai finally managed to push the right kinds of buttons and the English teacher had completely broken down in the Green Beast's room after school. In March Yellow Flash died, one of his foster students pulling a knife. Gai had been there when he'd gotten the call, and Kakashi was in the hospital for two weeks after he passed out; the stress of the losses and the school year and being new finally catching up to him. They were all surprised when he'd finally returned, gaunt and haggard, to finish the school year. The entire team was convinced that he wouldn't return, but Sandaime had stepped in, worming his way into Kakashi's life and giving further support on top of Gai, and after the summer Kakashi had sewn enough of his shredded life back together to try it again.

The memories all flooded through him, in vivid and graphic detail. The cold weather seeped into him, making him numb. He didn't even notice as it started to snow.

Rin was the only girl he knew that he ever felt comfortable with. Kakashi wasn't what anyone could call social, his childhood had seen to that. But Yellow Flash and Obito had found ways in, and Rin was the first girl to do the same. She helped him in so many ways that now that she wasn't here, with him, he noticed it in a hundred different ways every day. It was the little smiles of encouragement, the hours spent pouring over medical or pedagogical books, the small pushes in the right direction, and any number of other things. He was lost without her, without _them_, and all he could do was struggle to make their lives, their sacrifices, meaningful, to make his life even faintly resemble them.

A hand touched his shoulder, and Kakashi numbly looked up to see Iruka.

"What...?"

"My mother's funeral, remember?"

"Oh, that's right. Today is... Thursday..."

Iruka looked about how Kakashi felt. His eyes were hallow, sunken in, and the man was pale in the twilight - had so much time really passed? He knelt down next to Kakashi, who only just then realized that he was in the snow, and looked at the headstone.

"So you've lost people, too," Iruka said, his breath visible in the subzero temperatures.

"... Nn," was about all Kakashi could say.

"This probably sounds terrible, but that makes me feel... good."

Kakashi could think of nothing to say, and only nodded in response.

"Come on," Iruka said. "Let's go get a drink somewhere. We can talk about our losses; share our memories. Mom said..." he paused, emotion welling up on his face and in his voice. "Mom said the best way to remember someone is to talk about them."

Kakashi mutely took Iruka's hands, and they went off to a bar. Neither of them got completely drunk, it was a school night after all, but by the time they'd finally left both were considerably light-headed. They'd spent over four hours together, talking about themselves, laughing at funny stories, eating off each others plates, and talking about the kids.

They'd both belatedly realized that February break was next week, and the two of them agreed to spend it together somehow. The company lessened the sense of loss, and neither of them was quite ready to let go of such a comforting feeling.

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi woke up to an ugly headache; but thankfully it was only that; he'd had much, much worse hangovers over the years. He took a handful of aspirin, took his coffee black, and kept the windows down on his drive in. By the time he parked his car he was almost normal. 

Iruka was a different story altogether, however.

"Come now, Iruka-sensei," the Scarecrow said lightly, deliberately patting the special education teacher on the back hard, "it's your own fault, so don't look so down."

"Oh, shut up," he growled before tugging at his ponytail to loosen it slightly.

"Kakashi-sensei! How are you on this marvelous, bright, cheery, and beatific day!"

"Gai-sensei, keep the volume down," Kakashi said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Iruka-sensei isn't feeling well."

"I see, then I shall dole out my words to you in another room and thereby save our illustrious teacher of special needs youth of the tirade I am about to bestow upon you."

Kakashi blinked, and noted glumly that Iruka had a grin of the vilified as Gai nudged Kakashi into the social studies room before sitting the English teacher down at his desk. The Scarecrow looked around before asking, "Am I getting a detention?"

"Kakashi," Gai said in a low voice, his face suddenly very serious. "Are you alright?"

"... Yes?"

"Please don't play dumb with me, my rival," Gai said, his face stern. "I saw how haggard you looked when you left yesterday. Do the memories of your fiance bother you that much?"

It hit him as suddenly as it all had the day before, and for a brief moment Kakashi thought he would go right back to where he was, but he remembered the laughing at the bar and felt oddly lighter. "Yes," he said honestly. "They do bother me. They all bother me. Every day. Every, single, day. But I manage to get by. Most days I don't even notice the weight, but holidays are special. I'm fine now."

Gai gave a withering gaze, sizing up Kakashi's statement, and the English teacher suddenly felt a wellspring of pride that this good man was his friend. The Green Beast seemed to sense this, and gave his heroic smile.

"Excellent, my eternal rival!" he declared. "Be prepared to meet my next challenge, so that I will best you!"

"Hmph. It's my turn to pick it, right?" Kakashi said lightly, standing up. They both laughed and went back to their work.

The day was a surprise for Kakashi again, because it was Friday, the last day before February break, and therefore a Homeroom Challenge. His brain was still convinced it was Sunday; really he had to do something about that. He hurried over to the janitor's office and apologized profusely as he dropped the Homeroom Challenge bombshell even as he helped grab an extra garbage bin from the cafeteria and rolled it to his team's hallway.

As his homeroom cleaned out their lockers, Kakashi leaned against the wall and listened to the hum of the students. It was like a piece of music in his ears; one that he hadn't heard in years it felt like, but brought up all the happy emotions associated with the song. He soon found himself bobbing to the rhythm of the chatter, and felt much better as he opened his eyes and began touring the homeroom.

Kiba was looking over Hinata's notebook as the girl tried to explain her dilemma. "I have too many notes," she was saying. "I have to find some way to condense this. But everything on here is important; I have to have it. I don't know what to do. I can't keep it all, but if I take it home, father will--"

"Hinata," Kiba said, leafing through the trapper coarsely. "You worry too much. It's all junk as far as I'm concerned." At the grey-eyed girl's look of horror he continued: "Wait, wait, that's not what I meant. I mean you know it or you don't. Iruka-sensei told me, it's better to have, like, catch-words, things that trigger a bunch of other words and stuff you need to know."

"Kiba, I can't take that chance!" Hinata cried, horrified at the thought. "I _have_ to get As, if I don't do well this quarter..." her voice trailed off, the timid girl unable to complete the sentence.

"Do you need my help?" Sakura asked. "You can come study with me and Naruto and Sasuke."

The Hyuga girl looked absolutely stricken. "With N-Naruto?" Her flush was so sudden her body couldn't handle it, and she very nearly fainted.

"Hey, Hinata! Oi!" Kiba grabbed her shoulder, flustered and concerned. Kakashi smiled as he walked past, deciding not to interfere. The temptation to tease poor Hinata was too great, and that was the last thing she needed. He made a mental note instead to talk to Kurenai, see if she could encourage the shy girl.

Gaara was sitting blankly at his locker. There was barely anything in it, and the red headed boy just stared off into space. Remembering what Asuma had learned at his PPT, Kakashi crouched by the boy. "Are you doing okay?" he asked softly.

"Leave me alone."

"If you want that, then alright. But take it from someone who knows, 'alone' may be nice to visit, but it sure isn't a place to live. You have to put roots down somewhere." Kakashi got up and stepped back a ways. The boy continued to stare at his locker, oblivious to the world around him. Kakashi sighed. All he could do was his best.

Iruka's homeroom came by next, and as always, it proved to be uneventful as the kids emptied out their lockers.

Gai's homeroom was also relatively quiet. Kankuro was absent. Shikamaru made a pretense of cleaning out his empty locker before finally giving up and walking over to Kakashi.

"Sensei?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"How can you work with someone you don't like?"

Kakashi hid his grin, keeping his face neutral before saying, "Oh?"

"She's just so _troublesome_. I don't understand how she thinks or why she does half the stuff that she does. She doesn't even try to understand me, and I'm a pretty easy guy to figure out. It's not going to work. Can't you put me in another group?"

"It's a little late in the year to be playing musical chairs, Shikamaru," Kakashi said glibly. "And besides, you haven't even tried to use your greatest weapon against her."

The boy stared at him incredulously.

The grin couldn't be held any longer and it slowly spread across his face, eliciting a feeling of apprehension in Shikamaru, who involuntarily took a step back. The Scarecrow leaned down to the boy's level and simply tapped him on the head. "That," he said, "is your greatest weapon. Emotions are a thing to take note of, certainly, but very few people can successfully live by them. So logic her out of it."

"But I don't even understand _how_ her brain works!" Shikamaru complained.

"Did you want me to give you all the answers? That sort of spoils the puzzle, doesn't it?"

The boy blinked, before frowning, scowling, and muttering "troublesome," before turning back to his locker.

Ah, that felt good.

Next cycle was Kurenai's. Chouji's absence was noticeable, and some students were still talking about the heavy-set boy, wondering when and if he'd ever be back. Temari was again wearing tight jeans, and again the boys were staring, and again Kakashi gave them mute glares. He didn't walk right over, however, until he heard the snap of a camera.

"I want to make something clear," Kakashi said flatly in a low voice. "Whatever snapped that picture had better darn well appear on my desk by the end of this cycle for no one to get in trouble. If not, every one of you is going to have detention with me the first day they get back." By this point in the year, the students knew how true that statement was, and he covertly watched as two boys snuck into his room.

Walking around, he saw Shino throwing glances his way; and the teacher took the cue and walked over. "I get the feeling you want to talk to me?"

The quiet boy frowned, trying to work out his question. "I'm having trouble," he said finally, "finding a place to study. Kiba doesn't like my house because my parents are entomologists, and he's embarrassed to have people where he lives. Hinata's house is out because... well it just is." Good. Shino had noticed it, too. "But we can't really meet anywhere. School is bad because Kiba's father doesn't have time to pick him up, and the mall is bad because Kiba can't..." his voice trailed off again, and Kakashi was acutely aware that his students knew more about what was happening to the increasingly grouchy boy than he did.

"So you can't find neutral ground, is that is?" Kakashi summed up, sensing that Shino couldn't really explain further.

"Yes."

"You three can be quiet if you need to, right?"

"Of course. You've seen us in class sensei."

"Just checking. Alright. Then what about the library? It's a few blocks away, and if I recall correctly, it's sort of close to Kiba's home so there's no need to worry about the commute. I believe that you can get study rooms there, too, so that if needed you can be as noisy as you want."

"You can do that?"

"Of course. The whole point of a library is to help people."

Shino frowned, looking down. "I'll think about it, sensei."

"Of course. Is there anything else you want to tell me? Maybe about one of your teammates?"

Shino started, not expecting the question, before quickly covering up. "No, sensei, not really."

Damn. Kakashi turned and sighed silently as he watched Kurenai's homeroom finish up. He helped the janitors change bags as the final homeroom filtered in. Ino was almost immediately sent to the office because she found some spare clothes in her locker and was betting the boys money that she wouldn't change right out in the hall.

Naruto dutifully dug out his locker, the papers horribly wrinkled and dirty and began the painstaking process of sorting them, cheering as he found an assignment he owed, and cursing as he realized it was still late and he'd be docked for it.

While thoroughly distracted, however, Sasuke took the time to walk up to Kakashi. The boy hadn't spoken a word in his class since the weekend, and he clearly hadn't explained everything to Sakura, because she had tried to press Kakashi for information that the teacher wasn't about to admit. The sulking was depressing, and Kakashi was beginning to wonder if he'd done the boy permanent damage. But,

"You were right, sensei."

Kakashi openly blinked. "What?"

"You were right, Kakashi-sensei," the boy said, the words almost giving him pain as he admitted it. "It sucks to be alone. I don't want it."

It was a full ten seconds for the words to process, and Sasuke squirmed horribly as he waited for Kakashi to react. The English teacher only smiled, a rare genuine smile that the students almost never saw. "Nobody wants it, Sasuke," he said simply. He put a hand on the boys shoulder and added, "I'd never give up on you."

The look of surprise lasted only for a moment before Sasuke controlled his face again and turned away, trying to look bored. "Hn."

It was a good way to end the week. Afterwards, the kids were dismissed to lunch and came back for their movies, and Kakashi actually enjoyed watching it before the bell rang and the kids were released for a week.

He had plans to make with Iruka. Maybe, if he was feeling brave, he could include Gai in the process.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Set up, set up, set up. Something big is happening next week. Kakashi's Horrid First Year is finally given in detail (or at least, the personal part of it.) A plate is going to get spun really fast in the next chapter. chuckles As always, we wonder if anyone has picked up on it. We'll see. We both think nobody's noticed it, but you never know. We didn't think anyone noticed about Chouji, but several of you seemed to pick up that he was getting high.shrug

In any case, yes, it's frustrating when a student sees you at the supermarket, or the mall, or church or somewhere and you don't recognize them because growing older can radically change appearences. And yes, as an educator you should NEVER bring a student to your home. Just think of the lawsuits that could happen for just having a student in your car, let alone where you live if the child ever got hurt. shudder

**Important**: We seem to have messed up our timing. Given that the story is already in the second week of February and that we've only just barely started February, we'll post the next chapter later this month. This will also give us some time to deal with the drama in our lives. Mom's home, but she still needs a visiting nurse, we (who have no medical knowledge) have to administer IV antibiotics every day, she has doctor's appointments up to whazoo, and frankly, being online will be purely for recreation for a while. We're sorry about the temporary hiatus, but we promise to be back at the end of February. We'll miss, maybe two Saturdays before posting again. Gomen.

**InoShikaCho**: More Shikamaru goodness in this chapter for you. We're glad you enjoyed last week's installment (be it Shikamaru or Chouji, as long as you had fun). As you can see, Ino is only just starting to change, so it's going to take time for her to find her stride with dear little Shika-chan. Hinata? Her plate won't reach it's apex until after state testing. Be patient. If that's possible given our mini-hiatus. hopes At least Team 10 finally got some love. You're right, some characters are ignored in favor of Team 7. When they're all so awesome, they all need a little attention. As it is, we feel bad that several of the adults aren't getting time (Jiraiya, Ebisu, etc) as well as a lot of other characters that show up (Haku, Konohamaru, etc). But we really did try to touch base with as many as we could.

**Jill Bioskop**: We're glad you're seeing Ino's changes. They're going to take time, she still has a lot of herself to overcome, but we always like to see characters grow, ne? Yes, there should just be a Strangle-A-Hyuuga day in Hinata's honor at this rate. And she just has more coming. nods Yes, Chouji did get help just in time. He'll be much better when he comes back. (Yes, he'll be back this year. That may be unrealistic, but once in a while artistic liscence has to take over.) chuckles We're glad you liked Sasuke snapping his book. He's not very demonstrative so we had to find little things. Of course, in this chapter, he's abject fear of Itachi is blatant, but then, I guess we'd count that as a severe situation.

**HughesHanajimaHilariaHypocr...**: :( Don't worry! Chouji will be back! sighs We hope we haven't turned you off to the story. It is a reality in poor school districts and we felt it was a topic that needed to be addressed. Some kids get hooked on drugs very young. Smoking and alcohol can be discovered amoung elementary students sometimes. It's part of why poor districts remain ratty. There's a school system we've been to that's got a very good teaching staff, but has a nasty reputation because the area is called "Heroine Town" and needles have been found near elementary schools. Teachers can only do so much. hopes you're still reading

**Simply Manialoll**: Heh. Hey, oblivious can be a good thing. You might have been scared out of your mind if you found out why the cops were at your school. Poor Shino. Both his teammates are having issues and he's doing the best he can. He and Hinata both know the details of Kiba's issues, and as for Hinata, well... We're glad someone else was able to figure out Chouji. We had no idea if we were dropping big enough hints or not. We're so glad you're enjoying.

**Ryuu-chan**: nods You can be told the symptoms of drug use repeatedly, but actually seeing and noticing it can be very different. For example: "Decrease in school attendance." Well, there's a lot more to that than just drugs. A family member may be in the hospital, or the child may be sick and the school hasn't been notified, depression, etc. "Increasingly volatile temper." If you're dealing with half the shit in your life that these characters are going through, volatile would be an understatement. "Frequent spacing out during class." If the parents are heading for divorce and are arguing all the time, you'd be spacing out too. Etc, etc, etc. Even things like "A distinct smell" can be misleading if you have a student who can't wash regularly. It's usually a culmination of things and having to be aware of, which can be hard if you have thirty students in each class demanding your attention. The fact that Asuma picked up on it shows how astute he can be.

**Narutard Teacher**: We hope that our portrayl has the same realism as the tale you've heard. Writing this story was an interesting balancing act of stories that we knew were true and experiences with other items we've had less experience in, but a basic knowledge of. We've never had a school searched, but student rights during searches have been discussed in our pedagogical classes. We know the signs and symptoms of drug usage, but we've never had to call anyone on it, even though some kids we've dealt with we have some strong suspicions of. We're glad you enjoyed.

**Pairingwarfreak**: Kakashi? Ask students directly? That seems unlike him. Aside from that, some students will just shut down if you ask directly, because saying anything means confirming that it's real and they're still denying that anything is going on. Mostly, however, we see Kakashi being clear and direct as out of character. Kurenai and Iruka, they'd probably ask directly. Maybe even Gai. It's a matter of style and each teacher has their own shtick.

**Spider Wench**: More like what has Chouji done to the world (specfically, Shikamaru...). Unlike others who turn to drugs to releave stress or retreat from reality, Chouji did this purely as an experiment. An experiment that went haywire, but an experiment. He's got a good family and stable homelife, but even kids who have good homes can screw up. Unfortunately for Chouji, this was how it turned out. Yes, Ino will finally start improving now. She's kinda had reality thrown in her face and she's going to have to grow up to face it. Yes Hinata. She has a while yet before everything comes to the front for her. As for Kakashi not being lazy, we see him as the type to have a spine of steel when the situation truely calls for it. This time, it did. So he reverted to his military training and started parking out orders. nods again Yes, Asuma's getting pushed rather hard. Thankfully, he has the BeeGees. As for why Kiba doesn't like Shino's house, that was explained in this chapter. There's another subtlety in it, but Kiba needs to be properly dealt with first. His angry mutterings are cetainly a sign of something. And Iruka have some nice quality time with Kakashi this chapter, didn't he? grin Once again, relationships are nice and vague for you to read them as you like. And yes, Itachi will show up once more in this story. But not for a couple months.

See you all in a few weeks!


	24. Week 23

**February: Week Twenty-Three**

* * *

After all those incidents the past few weeks, Kakashi thoroughly enjoyed his student-free vacation. He'd met with Iruka during both weekends and gone out for a drink. While the special education teacher still had a few obstacles to go until he reached the lonely realm of friend, he made substantial headway. They talked about Iruka's mother, and about Rin. Kakashi made mention of Obito and the Yellow Flash, but he wasn't ready to divulge everything yet. There was no doubt, however, that Iruka had heard, absorbed, and apparently understood a great deal more about his coworker. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, given that Gai and Asuma took a lot longer in piecing everything together whereas Iruka seemed to be getting a lot in one shot. 

But the vacation was still heavenly. In another excursion into the world of local stores, Kakashi had been stopped by Team 7, who were hanging out there for the afternoon. The English teacher noted that Sasuke seemed much better and that both Naruto and Sakura were almost standing guard by him, ready to glare, fight, or take down any threat to their friend and companion. That meant that the stoic boy had finally shared what had happened with them. It put a smile on Kakashi's face for easily three days.

So, on Monday morning, when the Scarecrow got to school, he was in a very pleasant mood. Vacation had been a much needed break for everyone involved it seemed, for as Kakashi walked past Asuma's room, he could have sworn he heard the math teacher sing some old BeeGees songs.

Homeroom went by uneventfully, with only Kiba being absent. Sakura and Hinata were talking quietly together and Gaara had his headphones on and his eyes closed. Similarly, A period was quiet. Kakashi had just given out an assignment and was letting the paraprofessional circulate the room while he made a quick stop in the hall to get a drink of water.

To his surprise, however, he saw Hinata take off running from Kurenai's room down the hall. Acute sense of warning going off, the English teacher headed straight for the corner science room and looked inside to see students all hovering in a circle with Kurenai hidden amongst the mass calling Kiba's name. Given Kakashi's height, he hurried over to the crowd and saw Kiba on the floor, convulsing. Basic medical and military training kicking in, He turned, reached over Kurenai's desk to grab her thick, cushy, and soft winter coat.

"Move!" he commanded. "Give him room." He stole a quick glance around the room. Noting which students were there. "Sakura, you and Naruto move the chairs and desks away, give him room. Ino, keep the students back." Naruto and Sakura jumped into action, Sakura shoving chairs back, not caring if they tipped over and Naruto pushing the old wooden science tables away from where Kiba was on the floor. Ino looked shocked for a moment, before turning around and using her sharp tongue to start pushing students back to the walls, also kicking student's notebooks and folders, stored on the floor, away from Kiba.

All of this was done as Kakashi leapt over the table obstructing his view as he knelt down at Kiba's head. Kurenai had her hands on Kiba's shoulders, trying to snap him out of whatever was going on.

"Kurenai," Kakashi whispered, "he's in a seizure. Don't hold him down, you may cause unintended injuries." He started to bunch up her coat. "Lift him up, we don't want his head slamming the floor. That's it..." The pale science teacher gently lifted Kiba, hugging him to her as Kakashi placed her coat down. Just as tenderly, she set Kiba's shaking body back down, his head now jerking on her soft coat.

"I sent Hinata to get the nurse," she stated. "He came in late, took his seat, and then just fell over."

"Ah." Together, Kakashi and Kurenai stayed by Kiba. Since his arrival, almost a hundred seconds had passed. "Has he talked at all?"

"No, he just started shaking..."

It felt like hours passed before Tsunade came into the room, a needle of something in her hand, Hinata and another nurse behind her with the distant wails of sirens approaching. Ripping off the cap of the needle, Tsunade pulled out a vial of something and loaded the syringe. As she sat, opposite of Kurenai, Kiba's shaking started to subside to occasional jerks, which helped the nurse greatly as she shoved up his sleeves and started hunting for a vein.

For the first time, Kakashi took a good look at his student. Kiba was pale, his skin smudged in dirt, his cheeks sunken in. There was a strong sent of dogs, and his hair was matted and greasy. His clothes were dirty and looked like this was their fourth wearing since being washed. The English teacher frowned as Tsunade and her assistant shooed him and Kurenai away from the dirty boy. At the door, Hinata was white as a ghost, tears rolling down her face silently.

Kakashi lowered his _hitae-ate_, not even aware of when it had raised, and frowned. He leaned over to Kurenai. "Talk to Hinata," he whispered. She nodded, still looking pale as EMTs arrived to take Kiba from the room.

He walked out with them, listening to Kurenai starting to get the class back together. She told students to put the room back together and start to regain order. Kakashi paused ever so briefly before not going to his room, but next door to Asuma.

The math teacher was circulating his students as Sasuke and Temari were at the board, solving a pair of problems. It was clear that the students had seen/heard a little bit of the chaos in Kurenai's room, but Asuma had been smart in shutting his door. Most of the students were clueless, but there was an undeniable tension flitting about the room.

Asuma looked up, made eye contact with Kakashi and nodded before going back to the student he was currently helping.

"Shino," Kakashi stated. "I need to speak with you."

The boy in dark glasses looked up before getting out of his seat.

Together, they went down the hall into the copy room with the copier that always broke, and Kakashi shut the door.

"You know what's going on with your teammates."

Shino looked down.

"I know most of what's going on with Hinata. Kiba just collapsed into a seizure and is being taken to the hospital as we speak."

Shino's shoulders hunched up, the floor still fascinating.

"What's going on?"

There was a pause, a quiet where the only things heard were the voices of teachers across the hall as they continued on with their lessons, not knowing the drama of what had occurred just down the hall.

Finally, Shino looked up to the ceiling, his mouth a thin line. "Kiba's homeless."

As the boy kept talking, Kakashi took a long moment to parse that one line. It certainly put a lot into perspective. Kiba's increasing agitation and aggression, his more and more haggard appearance. The conversation the English teacher had heard about only eating one meal a day during his OSS after the food fight. Kiba's father's distractedness at any PPT that he'd been coming to. Oh, how it all fell into place. If Kiba had been maintaining his usual lack of food and always giving his share to his younger siblings for the entirety of vacation, _and_ had missed the school's breakfast since he was late coming in...

Well shit.

Kakashi pulled up the mental queue of what Shino had been saying. "About a week before Christmas, Kiba's dad lost the apartment. They've been staying at a cousins, and Kiba's dad was working frantically to pay off credit card bills to build up enough history to try and get a loan to get some sort for a down payment on a new place." Shino looked down again. "Kiba's been giving all the money he makes right to his dad, lying and saying he's keeping some for himself. He refuses to take any money from Hinata or me, or have us take him out to eat or anything." Shin offered a hallow laugh. "He says it's not fair for him to get treated when the rest of his family is starving."

Something was missing. "What happened over vacation?"

"Kiba's dad lost his job."

Well double shit.

So Kiba had been slowly starving and straining to do everything he could to help his father make ends meet. That would explain a collapse, depending on how many days he'd been without food now, but not the convulsions... unless...

Well triple shit.

"Shino, you're going to have to tell other people about this."

The boy nodded glumly. "Kiba won't take any help from anyone."

"He'll have to this time." Kakashi led Shino down to the office and dropped him off with Ebisu, after giving a brief rundown. Ebisu would handle the administrative needs, calling in guidance, social workers, calling DCF if necessary, etc. His next stop was to the health center. Walking behind the front desk, Kakashi walked into Tsunade's office where she was currently looking closer to her age than she usually did.

"Let me guess," the English teacher leaned into the doorframe. "Kiba and his family never informed you, or didn't know that he has diabetes."

Tsunade let out a sarcastic snort. "You think? Poor families are far more likely to have child birth defects, learning disabilities, diabetes, down syndrome, you name it." She shook her head sadly. "Kiba's just another statistic in the area. I gave him a shot of glucagons because I'd been suspecting, but I had no proof."

She sighed again. "You've got your information, now scram."

Kakashi nodded, knowing she was in too foul a mood to say any more, and headed back to his room, trying to push everything he'd learned away so that he could function. It was hard to believe that it was still first period.

When he came back, the para glared at him, but he just sat down in his student-free zone and stared out at his class. The para had kept things going, and the students were still working on the writing prompt he'd given them. To them, nothing had happened. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi leaned back and opened his book; while not a common occurrence in class, it happened often enough that the students didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

After sufficiently clearing his mind, he got back to the front of the room, called the class's attention, and started to review.

* * *

B Period was tense, the students knowing something had happened during first period, but no one was sharing. Or rather, no one was able to share since Kakashi briskly squished them into work and wouldn't allow even the slightest whisper during class. He wasn't going to have rumors fermenting in his room, no way. They would talk all they wanted in the halls, Kakashi couldn't prevent that, but _not_ in his room. 

When C Period came around, the Scarecrow didn't even bother trying to get work done. Instead, he went to everyone's rooms and told them to come to his. The last teammate he talked to was Iruka, who had several students in for resource and were demanding attention. He helped the special education teacher balance the students among the paras and dragged him across the hall.

In an odd mirroring of Asuma, almost a month before, she was stretched out on his sofa, looking exhausted and pale. The math teacher was sitting at a desk near her, and Gai was standing stoically in front of Kakashi's desk. Iruka deposited himself in a desk next to Gai as Kakashi shut his door, turned off his lights, and walked to his swivel chair, sinking into.

"We have a situation with Kiba," the English teacher started. He explained everything that had happened first period and what Shino had told him. Asuma started muttering a continuous string of words that would make even veteran high school swearers turn red with embarrassment. Gai would randomly interrupt with proclamations of how the youth must be defended, even if educators must kidnap children and raise them themselves. Iruka was jotting it all down in his notebook, his face a worried scowl. Kurenai just got paler and paler as she sunk further and further into his couch.

Kakashi worried about their science teacher. While he'd seen a spark within her and had seen it ignite with some of the students, she was facing more trials this year than any first year teacher should. While she had a supportive team to help her, she was getting a far closer look at how bad their student's lives could be. The ever-steady Asuma had succumbed to a heavy period of doubt, and if he couldn't handle it, it was a wonder how Kurenai was holding up to all the strain. Like it or not, as a teacher, you worried about the kids. No matter their situation, no matter how unlikable many of the students could be, teachers worried. They couldn't give Kiba's father a home or a job. There were just times when prospects were nothing but bleak.

And as Kurenai continued to sink into his couch, he wondered if she really could handle the strain of teaching in a poor school system.

"I was called," she whispered. "Kiba's in a diabetic coma."

Well quadruple shit.

This just wasn't a good day. Hell, this just wasn't a good year.

After a moment, Kakashi looked around to his team. "We need to keep a lid on the rumor-mongering during class. Same as usual. Don't give out information; we don't know anything for certain. If some students are concerned talk to the--"

The English teacher glared at his phone, but picked it up.

"Kakashi-sensei speaking."

"I'll be keeping Shino and Hinata most of the day today, probably." Jiraiya sighed on the other end of the line.

"Oh?"

"Hinata's a mess and Shino's trying to be all calm and collected, but failing miserably. You're team may not see them till after lunch at the earliest."

"Right. I'll pass that on."

"Now what?" Iruka grumbled.

"We'll be missing the rest of Team 8. Shino and Hinata are in guidance, both are really upset."

"Unsurprising," Asuma rasped.

They discussed different venues of support for the remainder of C Period, except for Kurenai, who just lay on the couch, listless.

* * *

The next few days were strained. While classroom routine remained normal and helped remove Kakashi's brain from the worry about his student, there was still an underlying fear. Kurenai, whom the Scarecrow was now keeping a close eye on, looked completely normal in front of the class. You wouldn't know anything major had happened on Monday by just watching her teach. But it was those moments between classes, when the students weren't around, that she wilted, looking older than she was, and oh so very tired. 

The students did their best to act normally, but there was a subtle increase in restlessness amongst the student body. Sasuke was irritable because he ended up being the sole emotional support for both Sakura and Naruto, both of whom witnessed Kiba's collapse and convulsions. He was unprepared and caught off guard, and while he was admirable with the two of them; he came off as waspish to anyone else. Hanamaru was becoming a holy terror in resource, his best victim gone, and was trying to start arguments with Naruto or Gaara, but Gaara never raised to the bait and Naruto knew if he got involved that both Kakashi and Iruka would have his head, to say nothing of Yondaime. Shikamaru was seen holding a crying Ino, who also felt the strain of watching someone she knew have seizures, and the genius boy was later seen being tailed by several of Ino's admirers. Plus, despite their best efforts, rumors were flying. Some of the more cruel theories included Kiba being part of the same drug gang as Chouji and he'd had a bad hit. Others were that Kiba was violently allergic to school, or that he was epileptic.

Hinata was inconsolable. From what Kakashi had found out, mostly through Jiraiya and Kurenai when she wasn't staring into space, her parents had learned that her teammate was homeless and were chastising her for associating with such riff-raff. That and with the state tests just over two weeks away, she was starting to buckle under the strain. She was hardly ever seen outside the company of Shino, who looked pale and had withdrawn even further from his peers. He blamed himself, there was no doubt of that, and nothing anybody said seemed to change his mind.

There had been an emergency faculty meeting Monday after school, and the staff was appropriately supportive and sympathetic. Some of the fifth and sixth grade teacher's who'd had Kiba came down to see Kakashi and see if there was anything they could do, as well as some of the specials teachers. Kakashi appreciated the support, but it was more of a bother for him.

It was late Tuesday when they'd gotten the call that Kiba had come out of his coma and was going to be kept overnight for observations. There was no doubt that he was undernourished, but Kiba _had_ been eating over vacation, even if it was only one meal a day. The main issue surrounding the Inuzuka boy was that DCF had been called in. Now, the Department of Children and Families wasn't a bad organization. They had the best interests at heart, but whenever they got involved, things tended to get messy. A social worker was set up with Kiba's father to help him get job training and show him the ropes about getting into welfare. All of Kiba's siblings seemed well and it appeared that Kiba was sacrificing for them.

It was Thursday when Kiba came back to school. As was usual, he was pestered to find out if any of the rumors about him were true, but he merely barked them all away. He shuffled into homeroom, looking much better, or at least, cleaner, than he had Monday, sunk into his seat, and stared at his desk. Hinata came in shortly afterward and, after much hesitation, took a seat by Kiba.

As it turned out, this positioning was perfect, because Kurenai strode in a few minutes later, her eyes flashing determination. Kakashi leaned back in his chair and watched, with a certain curious amusement.

"Ah, Hinata, Kiba. I'm glad I caught the two of you."

"Y-yes, Kurenai-sensei?"

"I'll need to see the two of you after school."

Kiba growled.

"Oh don't worry, it isn't a detention at all. But there's something I'll need to discuss with the two of you and it will take a while. Meet me in my room after the last bell." She didn't even give them a chance to reply before striding gracefully back to the door. "I'll be waiting for you."

Kiba humphed.

The English teacher smiled to himself, wondering what Kurenai had up her sleeve. He didn't have time to ponder, however, because something else that was happening was very interesting.

Gaara had stood and walked over to the homeless boy, one of his earphones out. He stood in front of Kiba's desk as Kurenai had done, and stared down. Hinata glanced back and forth between the two of them, starting to shake in anxiousness.

"You're back," the redhead stated.

"Yup."

"You're healthy."

"Kinda."

Gaara glanced at Hinata. "You're wanted."

Kiba offered a bitter snort. "Apparently."

"You're loved."

Even from behind, Kakashi could see Kiba's ears turn red.

"I guess."

Gaara continued to stare, his face impassive. All of a sudden, the boy's face twisted into a rage as he reached, grabbed Kiba's desk and completely upturned it, his voice caught up between a groan and a yell, before he sank to the floor, clutching his head.

Kakashi was immediately at Gaara's side, offering soothing words. With a glance and a gesture, he sent Sakura out to get Tsunade and in-between his calm mutterings, the Scarecrow told Hinata to go get Iruka. A hell of a way to start the day.

After Gaara was escorted down to the health center, the first two periods of the day went without incident, much to Kakashi's relief. There was still an underlying tension and restlessness with the students, but it had greatly diminished with Kiba's return, even if the boy was being pestered with questions he didn't want to answer.

During Kakashi's prep, however, he was called down to guidance. Wondering what Jiraiya could possibly want, he meandered down the hall, taking his time and mulling he past week over in his head. This, naturally, made him late, much to the Scarecrow's pleasure. The secretary didn't point him to Jiraiya's office however. She ushered him into a small conference room where Orochimaru and another man were sitting. Kakashi's took a moment at the door.

"Sorry I'm late," he offered. "I was just called down and no one has told me why I'm needed yet."

"So sorry to see you lacking information, Kakashi," Orochimaru hissed, an ugly smile on his lips. "But we are here to meet with Hajime-san here. He's the social worker in charge of young Inuzuka's case."

"Forgive me for coming empty-handed then," he replied as smoothly as the Snake guy. "However, my team and I have been discussing Kiba for the past few days and I believe I'll know any pertinent information that you need."

"Very good," Hajime nodded, his bald head shining. "I think I'd like to hear about how he's been in school lately."

So Kakashi told him, in explicit detail, everything he had noticed from when the school year had started all the way to this morning, first offering dry facts from grades and overheard conversations and then expanding into what he'd been able to piece together through instinct and observations. He spoke of how Kiba was in other classes, of who worked better with Kiba and who didn't. He was even able to dip into a little bit of what the specials teachers thought, plus the information he'd dug up from the fifth and sixth grade teachers earlier that week when they'd come to visit him.

The bald social worker sat back and whistled once Kakashi had finished. "Have you been keeping an eye on Kiba in particular?"

"No, I can usually give such a summary of any student. Iruka keeps a very detailed notebook on everything discussed during team time, in case we need paper evidence. It doesn't happen often, but once in a while, it is required."

"I'm impressed," Hajime stated, eyebrows raised. "Kiba is lucky to be on your team. I noticed you've already outlined several support structures that your team has set up. This adds to what Orochimaru has done on his end."

"Oh?" Kakashi looked to the snake. "He doesn't seem to have had the chance to inform my team of what's been going on. How_ is_ Kiba's family doing?"

"You don't know? Well," and thus the social worker began to explain what had been going on over the past few days. The first priority, since Kiba was hospitalized, was to start investigating if there had been any neglect or maltreatment of him or any of his other siblings. Living conditions were checked, interviews were conducted with family, friends and neighbors. While the investigations were incomplete, initial impressions seemed that the Inuzuka clan was very loving and supportive. Unfortunately, Kiba's father was falling on very hard times.

On a suggestion from DCF, Kiba's father had taken all of his children in for check ups, grumbling about no health insurance, and was relieved to discover that Kiba was the only one with diabetes. Also discovered was that Kiba was the only family member suffering from such extreme malnourishment. After several long talks with Kiba, including a few shouting matches with his father, it was uncovered what Kakashi had learned through Shino. The seventh grader was trying to sacrifice his own food and hard-earned money to ensure that his family still had enough.

The one item that the social worker was having extreme difficulty with was that Kiba refused to divulge who he would work for all afternoon, since it was breaking child labor laws to the extreme. The only name Kiba would give up was for his paper delivery route. As for the odds and ends he did, Kakashi was willing to bet it wasn't any sort of formal arrangement. It was probably favors that he did that earned a little extra money on the side. In which case, it wasn't a surprise that Kiba didn't give names, he didn't want his source of income in trouble, and, on an individual basis, nobody was doing anything wrong.

What Hajime had also been doing over the past couple of days was giving Kiba's father training and helped with various welfare forms. They were going to have to look for alternate lodging, because the cousin they were staying with didn't have the room or the capacity to keep Kiba's family. Plus the myriad of other little details that DCF investigated when called in. While he wasn't as thorough as Kakashi was, the Scarecrow did appreciate the level of detail that was shared, providing a clearer picture of what had been going on for the past few days.

Through it all, Orochimaru just sat there placidly, not saying a word, but smiling congenially. As much as Kakashi wished to use a dull spoon to cut out the snake's lungs, he remained affable and friendly.

Finally, the bell rang and Kakashi glanced at the clock.

"Do forgive me, Hajime-san, but I have a class now and I wasn't aware I wouldn't be there for this period. Seeing as how I don't have a substitute, would you mind if I were to depart?"

"No," the bald man chuckled, "of course not. I appreciate working with such a thorough man as yourself." Standing, they shook hands. "If anything else comes up, I'll be sure to give you a call."

"Thank you."

Orochimaru stood as well, still saying nothing, and still smiling in a quasi-friendly matter. As the English teacher left, he felt the distinct need to go take a shower after being in the snake's presence for so long. Still, at least he had some good news to share with his team come E period.

* * *

After the final bell, Kakashi shooed out his students. He stood by his door, watching the chaos known as trying to get to the buses. Students were at their lockers, shoving books into their lockers or their book bags, shouting at their friends hurried plans to meet after school or cursing out teachers for homework assignments that they deemed as impossible. The halls were packed as students rushed back and forth, trying to travel with friends between gaps of other students that were only wide enough for one. It was a chaotic ten minutes before there was a distinct rumble that sounded as the buses finally pulled away, leaving only students who had after school responsibilities, detentions, or were walking home.

It was only after the sounds of the buses had died off to the distance that three students could be found outside of Kurenai's corner science room. Hinata was looking down at the floor, Kiba was sitting by the wall, looking tired, and Shino stood between them, his face unreadable behind his dark glasses. Kakashi stood just by his door, unobtrusive, but listening, as Kurenai unlocked her door and stood in front of Team 8.

"Hello," she greeted warmly. "I'm going to get straight to the point. This room is now your sanctuary. You see this basket?" She held up a square wicker basket. "You are to deposit your problems in here before entering. No worries about parents, no worries about money, no worries about each other. In this room," she pointed behind her, "you are safe. You are loved, and you are cared for. No problems are allowed. After school, you meet here and do whatever you need to do. If that's homework, it's homework. If it's relaxing, it's relaxing. Anything discussed in here, stays in here unless it affects someone's immediate safety.

"Any questions?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"Good. Now," she made a gesture of pulling something out of her ear. "I've had a lot of worry this week. I don't want to deal with them for now." She dropped the imaginary worry she had grasped into the basket. "Do any of you need to leave behind something for a while?"

The three glanced around before Hinata laughed lightly. In a timid mimicking of Kurenai, she reached up, pulled nothing from her ear, and deposited it in the basket, smiling ever so slightly as she walked into the room. Shino hmphed, but did the same. Staring at Kurenai for a moment, Kiba finally shrugged.

"Why not?" he mumbled, pulling out his own worries and dropping it into the basket. Smiling serenely, Kurenai put the basket on the floor by her door, looked down the hall and saw Kakashi, winked, and went into her classroom.

The English teacher smiled. His concern earlier that week had been completely unfounded. His science teacher was brilliant.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Hehehe. Given our recent experience with diabetic comas and the like, this chapter is highly inaccurate. At the time of the writing (several months ago), we were fusing stories our mother had told us about how our uncle contracted diabetes and the reactions he suffered with a story from a professor about a student who did go into seizures during class. However, our portrayal is now inaccurate and defunct. Still, we wanted Kiba back before the end of the week to move the chapter along to Kurenai's needed arc. (Besides, Hinata couldn't be left hanging...) As such, we'll leave the chapter as is, unaltered. we might tweak later on (after our hellish lives are back to some semblance of normal), but this will suffice as is. (Mom is doing much better. Still very weak, and any surprise tends to have her backslide a little, but the worst seems over.)

Moving on. A teacher one of us had worked with before was giving a lesson on types of food to an elementary class. They were talking about what kinds of foods are breakfast foods, such as cereal, eggs, oatmeal, toast, milk, OJ, etc, when a student broke down crying. The child was completely inconsolable. As it turned out, there wasn't a father at home and the mother worked the night shift, meaning she was asleep when the kids went to school. So this child had been making breakfast for the family all year with things like sandwiches. After this lesson, the poor kid was convinced that he was going to kill his family since he hadn't been feeding him properly. So the teacher assured the child that he wasn't killing his family and, after school for a few days, she showed him how to make simple breakfasts like scrambled eggs, oatmeal, etc.

Now we're talking an elementary student. I don't remember precisely, but I think he was in third or fourth grade (ie, 8 or 9 years old). This boy had so many worries, that what the teacher did was taking him outside the school to an old dinosaur fossil by the main entrance. Together, the two of them put all of his worries there with the dinosaur to take care of them while he was at school, and at the end of the day, the dinosaur would return all of his worries.

There was another student who all but disappeared from school for almost a month. We later learned it was because his family was homeless for a while and was wandering between our school and the one in the next town over. The next time I saw him he announced it was his last day at school because he was transferring to the other.

sigh

Poor families tend to have less prenatal care, so things like diabetes, learning disabilities etc, really are more common. Also in this chapter, we took a look at what DCF does. Generally speaking, you really don't want DCF involved, they do tend to make things messy, but they _never_ go into a situation with the intent of taking kids away from a family. They are there to ensure that children are being raised well.

This was a rough chapter to write. Of course, we both shudder at the idea of either of us writing this chapter now. We're glad the story's already done. It's one less thing to worry about since we have absolutely NO imagination right now...

**InoShikaCho**: Did you notice the touch of Ino/Shika here? You probably did. . And yes, poor Kakashi had a rough life in this story. Between coming home to Sakumo's suicide, to losing all those precious to him. Of course, Asuma had it rough last month, Kurenai was tested this chapter and we haven't even gotten to Gai's story arc yet. (mwahahahahaha) We're back to our usual once a week, so don't worry. Your patience will be back to normal... We hope...

**HughesHanajimaHilaria**: As we've mentioned to spiderwench in previous notes, there will be no direct pairings for anyone in this story. But we're very fond of KakaIru, so if you squint, you can see some signs. The main obstacle for the two of them in coming to a relationship is that Kakashi needs a LOT of time to even consider you a friend, let alone something more. Iruka hasn't quite worked into the lonely realm of "friend" yet in this story (only Gai exists there at the moment), but in the future (ie, in a few years), yes, these two would probably get together. As for Gaara's story... So much we could say... Naruto is more indirectly involved.

**Alisa Makora**: Actually, we've had this story done for some time. It's a matter of proofing each chapter and then putting up. In some cases, it was good to just escape into this story for a little while and forget about reality for a few hours. Of course, timing it was interesting, but that's all over now. . nods Just complaining about something to a minimum-wage worker doesn't really get stuff done. Having a smidgen of proof (nothing overdone) to just get someone's attention, however, is something else. And Kakashi _is_ a genius after all. We hope you enjoyed Kakshi and Iruka's weekends at the beginning of the chapter. One little light spot before darkness prevails. Temporarily at least.

**Dochii**: Don't worry about not reviewing if you don't have the time. We're very understanding (or at least try to be). As always, we're pleased to hear from our readers. Feedback is always a good thing.

**Spiderwench**: Yup, our mom is well on the road to recovery. There are days, but everythings finally starting to approach a new form of normalcy. (Being that she's now diabetic, we can't go back to our old normal, but as long as we reach some form of normal, we're happy.) We both admit, we don't really see Kakashi as bi, straight, or gay. He doesn't have enough people in his life to really be able to tell. He just loves who he loves, whoever that is. He'll hold them close and do anything to protect them. Be they Team 7, or Iruka, or his old teammates. Kakashi's flexible that way. See our reply to HughesHanajima for our thoughts beyond the story. Hope you don't mind our interpretation of him that way.

**Ryuu-chan**: As always, we're glad you're enjoying. Hehe. The supermarket idea kida hit Image while writing it, but we knew something was going to happen before vacation with Sasuke.We're glad you liked it so much.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: chuckles We know kids who really would take that long to clean out their lockers. It's worse for the kids who have to live out of their lockers, though, because they may not even have somewhere to keep their belongings. Yes, poor Hinata. It's going to get worse for her before it gets better. -- And your non-existant patients can now go back to the waiting-for-Saturday schedule. There are teachers like Kakashi out there, to some extent. He's the type of teacher the two of us strive to be (whether we are or not is a different matter entirely). But he has a fun teaching style. He's laid back for the most part until you cross the line, which makes the kids trust him and like him, and he's very observant. He's fun to write.

**Jill BioSkop**: hands Jill ANOTHER Naruto plushie of her choice Are you reading our minds? Hehe. You were right, Kiba's homeless. There was a bit more to it, but you got the gist of what he was going through, the same way you got Chouji. One wonders what else you'll predict. Kakashi and Iruka as good friends... Yes... As we mentioned to HughesHanajima and spiderwench, Kakashi won't let people in enough to the world of "friend" easily. So far, only Gai has made it, and by the end of this year, Iruka will be damn close. We're glad you're enjoying this so much.

Thanks to everyone for sticking with us and keeping with us despite our somwhat erratic and chaotic lives. bows Thanks everyone. See you next week.


	25. Week 24

**March: Week Twenty-Four**

* * *

In like a lion, a snowstorm blew in over the weekend, and Monday was a snow day. A second storm was due in the middle of the week, too, and Kakashi smelled an early release day if the forecasters were right. 

He dug out and drove in at any rate. The sky was dull and grey, as it had been since about December, and the English teacher was beginning to discover that he was getting a little sick of the dull weather. The snow was pristine on the hills, but on the roads it was a brown slush, grey with black spots of dirt that were partly melted and hard as salt rock. It was bleak, to say the least, and Kakashi realized he was starting to wish for spring.

Perusing the halls, he was mildly surprised to see an interesting spectacle at his door.

Temari, or at least what looked like Temari, it was her blond hair and pigtails, was not only in full lip-lock, but also an impressive hip-grind with... was that Hanamaru? He stood for a moment and stared, openly, projecting flat disgust and counting the seconds until they noticed. They didn't, however, even as other students, wandering in and out of his room and seeing the impending doom of their two classmates, tried to cough and nod and otherwise subtly let the pair know of the danger they were in. But the pair was oblivious to the world, and after a full sixty seconds Kakashi had had enough.

"Ahem," he said in a low, resonating voice.

It was like a bucket of ice water, the two immediately stopped what they were doing and, like magnets of the same polarity, rebounded off each other.

"Tell me," Kakashi said slowly. "Where are the two of you right now?"

"... by your door," Hanamaru said weakly.

"Yes, what kind of building is this?"

"A school."

"I see. And what kinds of things does one do in school?"

"... Learn."

"Yes, I believe you're right. So I'm left to wonder, is this a class in sex education?"

"We weren't having sex!" Temari shouted, as if the idea disgusted her.

"That's only because you're clothes were on," Kakashi said in a dark voice. "Of course, I'm just a crotchety old man, I don't have any understanding of young people nowadays," he added in a whimsical voice. "I mean, it must be all the rage to try and procreate in public like that, in open display of not only the old people like me, but also every single one of your esteemed peers. I can only imagine how many people walked by this spot in the last few minutes, more than dozens, perhaps even over a hundred - and I'm certain that there were repeat visitors because your practical demonstration was so, well, demonstrative. Your parents must be so pleased that you're willing to sacrifice your sense of privacy like that - I'm sure they've seen this routine several times already, am I right?"

"Ew!" Hanamaru cried out. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Detention for language on top of the write up I'll be giving the two of you for indecent conduct."

"What's indecent?" the boy asked, but Temari was a step ahead of him.

"Why do you teachers have such a problem with public displays of affection, huh? We have a _right_ to show people that we care!"

"Temari," Kakashi said in with a long sigh, "someday you'll understand there is a very distinct difference between showing someone you care and _showing someone you care_. Besides, until you're sixteen it's just gross to watch. You wouldn't want to cause me to be sick, would you?"

"I would if it meant I didn't have you anymore," she spat.

Ah, to be loved. "And now you have a detention for defiance. I'll give the two of you your slips in class. Now get to your homerooms and pray the student body in general doesn't ask for details on what you were doing."

* * *

"You're late!" 

Kakashi was certain the door was closed before he said, "Sorry, I was too busy watching all the child pornography going on in the halls. The eighth graders are more experienced than I am."

Iruka frowned, the other teachers following suit.

Kakashi sat down and pulled his beloved book out. "Did any of you see Temari and Hanamaru this morning?" he asked.

"Oh. That," Iruka said, noting it in his book. "When I came in this morning there was a lot of giggling and nose touching. Did they graduate to kissing?"

"Full hip grind," Kakashi said, flipping a page.

"To use the vernacular of youth, 'EW!'" Gai proclaimed, making a face.

"I wrote them both up, and when they got snooty about it they both got detentions on top of it. Temari was trying to say that they had a right to make out in public. I tried to embarrass them as best I could. Hanamaru responded okay to it, but Temari just got bitchy."

"That's how she reacts to it," Asuma said. "Whenever she gets flustered her jaw tightens and she digs in her heels."

"Surefire way to get fired from any job she applies to," Iruka muttered, writing it all down. "They just have to be right at this age."

"They just think they know better. The world revolves around them, didn't you know that?" Kurenai quipped, running a hand through her thick tresses. "You should see her in my class. She has just about all the boys wrapped around her finger - excuse me, her ass - and can miraculously get anyone she wants into trouble. I finally had to pair her with Shikamaru to keep the damages down; he's about the only one who can keep her on an even keel. Of course, that leaves Gaara with Kankuro as a lab partners, and I have to practically stand over them and glare to make sure they get work done. Oh, that reminds me," she added. "Who hasn't had Naruto yet?"

Kakashi and Asuma raised their hands.

"Consider yourselves warned, he didn't take his medication this morning."

"Forgot, did he?" Asuma asked.

"No, he lost the bottle."

"... What?"

"He was telling me this morning," Iruka said. "He and Yondaime were scouring the house looking for it because neither of them could remember where they'd left it last time, Naruto was looking under his bed when Yondaime cried out that he'd found it. The boy was rushing down to see that he tripped and knocked him down, and the pills spilled everywhere, I'm told."

"That's not too bad," Asuma said. "A kitchen floor or whatever is usually pretty clean."

"No, no," Iruka said. "You don't understand. It wasn't a house floor, it was the garage floor."

The math and English teacher openly stared at him. Kakashi even lowered his book slightly.

"What the hell were they doing in the garage?" Asuma demanded.

"They weren't in the garage," Iruka explained. "They were in the kitchen, but the back door to the garage was open because they were both trying to get out of the house, and when Yondaime toppled backwards that was were they all spilled. And," he added. "I just got an email from Yondaime. The pharmacy he goes to is completely out; they put a rush order on it, but he said that the earliest he's going to get a refill is this weekend."

"... The pain!" Asuma said, putting his head in his hands. "That's a story for the record books, I think."

"Tsunade still has her stock, right?" Kakashi asked, not at all liking the thought of a hyper Naruto.

"Yes, but her prescription is running low, too. It's supposed to be refilled this week, but with the snow tomorrow she's not sure when the truck will actually get here. Even with his afternoon medication, you're probably going to see a difference in his behavior, because it takes about an hour to dissolve into his bloodstream."

"My last period is going to become hell," Asuma mourned, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and debating on whether to pull one out or not. "I have Kiba and Gaara and Kankuro all in that class. It's a handful as it is, but a hyper Naruto? I can tell you exactly what's going to happen. He's going to be twitching and asking questions and talking to everyone around him, Kiba's going to get annoyed because he's trying to understand in his own right and start snapping. The two are going to get at it despite the fact that they're at opposite sides of the room, and Gaara will hear it all and just get pissed off and put on his headphones, or put his head on his desk. Then, with me thoroughly distracted with all _that_, Kankuro will take the opportunity to do something."

"Well, the meds will have kicked in by the time you get him," Kakashi said, frowning in thought. "Team Seven should keep him under wraps in my class, they'll know the story by now, and if necessary I can pull one of them, Sakura probably, aside and let her know to keep a lid on him."

"But it's a Monday lesson," Iruka said. "You have to chew out all the new vocab and start the creative writing project - it's a lecture day."

"We'll split the class, then," Kakashi said. "You can take Teams One and Eight, so Kiba and Gaara don't press any buttons, and Six and Nine, and Four."

"Are you deliberately giving me the trouble makers?" Iruka asked in indignation.

"I can take them if you want, and you can have Naruto."

"No, no, I'll take them. It's probably better that I have Temari at any rate, if she's still mad at your over this morning."

"Any word about Chouji?" Asuma asked.

There was a collective shake of the heads. The math teacher frowned, but nodded. "Shikamaru's still taking it hard."

"He would," Iruka replied. "The two are best friends. Been together since kindergarten from what I hear. Shikamaru always helped him keep his grade up, and Chouji always helped keep him active and remotely social. Shikamaru's intelligence is almost frightening sometimes, and he doesn't really feel like he fits in with the other students, they seem so childish to him. Chouji keeps reminding him that he's a kid, too. Actually, I think it was Chouji who got Shikamaru interested in board games, and then he graduated to chess and go and the others."

"It will always be fascinating to listen to the tales of youth and how such individuals affect one another in such a memorable time of their lives!" Gai pronounced.

The collection of teachers paused before moving on. "Does everybody have their order forms filled out?" Kakashi asked.

"I think so," Iruka said. "Well, except you, of course."

The English teacher grinned before pulling out his form from his shirt pocket. "It's a complete set now."

"Are we certain that this is everything?" Gai asked.

"I think so," Kurenai said. "I've never done an interdisciplinary unit before. I have my end covered. Are we sure the posters and pencils will arrive in time?"

Asuma looked over the forms and copied them onto the master, flipping through the catalog they had been using to place the orders for the materials they wanted. "Not for this year. It's a six-week waiting period, and if we're going to do a stress unit, the best time to do it is during the state tests, week after next. We can hand make what we need; I've seen how skilled you are with a pencil. Then next year we'll have this on top of what we made."

"How are we going to judge best stress skit?"

"We'll monitor everyone's heart rates and blood pressure," Kakashi offered to a general laugh.

"We can talk about which groups were the best, and then have them present during team or something," Iruka offered. "Because of the schedule we only have them, what, F and G?"

"Then we might want to do this next week," Gai said slowly, thinking. "It might be better if the grade gets the complete experience, and not just two subjects. Then we can pick the best presentation per class and reward them with the pencils and the Homework Tickets and the stickers to more than just a few students. Then we can talk about Best Skit for the end of the year awards. If necessary, then we can pull them from class and have them present during Team Time."

"That reminds me, I think I already mentioned this, but I'm going to a workshop Friday," Kurenai said. "So we have to make sure everything's done by Thursday, I'm not going to have time to stop off."

"Then we better get to work," Iruka said. "I don't know if we'll even have Team tomorrow."

* * *

After a busy period, the bell rang and Kakashi strolled leisurely to his sixth period class. 

The phrase "marked difference" did not even begin to cover how Naruto was during class. Severe ADHD only put it mildly. Naruto, to his credit, was really trying to focus and pay attention, but today's format just didn't lend itself to him. He thrummed his desk, was swinging his legs and kept accidentally hitting the chair in front of him. Sasuke put up with as much as he could handle before finally turning around and throwing a dark glare, which just made Naruto try to defend himself - not in a whisper, but at full volume. Sakura kept grabbing at his orange sweater to calm him down, but Naruto couldn't stop his mouth once it had opened. Kakashi watched in disbelief as the boy changed subject four times in ten seconds, his brain jerking from one thought to the next with no form of control, let alone order.

Verbal reprimand did nothing. Naruto instead turned his attention on his lazy bastard sensei - which caused him to pale when he said that out loud and he clapped a hand over his mouth. Even that could not last long, however, because now he was conscious of what a pain he was being, and once it was in his mind any hint of control he had flew out the window. The more he tried to focus and couldn't, the more frustrated he became and the worse he acted, and the cycle would start over again.

It took twenty minutes to get through the new vocabulary words, and Kakashi wasn't entirely sure that the class had absorbed any of it. Kiba was glaring darkly at the overwrought Naruto, but Iruka's dark glares kept the boy's mouth closed. Hinata put a hand on his at one point, and the boy calmed considerably. Gaara, meanwhile, was looking for the world like he was about to go ballistic, perhaps even nuclear. About the only thing keeping him quiet was the ever-calming presence of Iruka.

Halfway into class, Ino, finally annoyed by it all, turned and shouted to Naruto, "Shut up you stupid sped!"

That was the last straw; Naruto gave a great growl of frustration and ran out of the room.

"Ino, detention."

"But sensei! He's so annoying!"

"Two detentions, then. Sasuke, go find him."

"Why does Sasuke get to leave class?" Temari demanded. "You're playing favorites again!"

"No he's not," Sakura defended. The sentiment was nice, but the timing was wrong.

"You stay out of this billboard-brow!"

"Say that again," Sasuke said, his face as black as his hair. Ino paled and said nothing. He turned to his teacher. "She comes with me."

Kakashi thought about it before finally nodding. He glanced to Iruka and he silently stepped out to follow and see what he could do. With him gone, however, Gaara emitted a low keen.

"You're all so fucking annoying," he muttered under his breath.

It degenerated from there. Noteworthy events included Shikamaru snapping at Ino to sit down and shut up - a command that she shockingly obeyed, Shino putting a hand on Kiba's shoulder after he gave a low growl to keep the boy from blowing up, Temari earning a second and third detention for taking the opportunity to mouth off to Kakashi (he finally sent her out of the room), Kankuro interestingly calming Gaara, and Team 6 trying to leave the room without permission. By the time the bell rang, Kakashi had given out half a dozen detentions, spaced out for the rest of the week, a headache, and no sign of Iruka and Team 7.

Iruka appeared halfway through last period, and after school he was pleasantly surprised to see Naruto show up.

"I'm really sorry, sensei," he mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

"Iruka told me that you were under-medicated today," Kakashi said slowly. "It must have been hard."

"I know all the tricks to keep focused," Naruto explained. "And it's not like I don't do them, but I sometimes I just can't take it. I really do try! I do!" The Scarecrow was surprised to see a tear roll down the boy's cheek, and the blond furiously scraped the sleeve of his sweater over it, offended that it had appeared.

"Naruto, what do you think I'm going to do?"

"Fail me, like everybody else does!" he cried out, surprised at the volume of his own voice.

It took a moment, but Kakashi walked back to his computer and opened up his electronic grade book. "Come here," he said. Naruto walked over, squinting at the screen. "Whose grade is that? Whose name is on this screen?"

The blond blinked. "That's... that's mine."

"Naruto, do you see all the As and Bs you have? Look at your participation grade; that's a perfect hundred. Do you really think one bad day is going to fail you?"

"But--"

"Naruto, I've had you since September. You've had me since September. I'm hurt that you don't know me well enough by now to know that I'd never just fail a student, any student, just because of one bad day." He closed the window and pulled up another, covering part of the screen with his hand. "Look at these grades here. You can tell who's failing because they don't turn in work, or they do shoddy work. Do you do either of those things?"

"... No," he said, marveling at the number of Fs he saw. Kakashi closed the window before the boy could figure out who in the alphabet was where.

"So don't freak out if you've had a bad day," the English teacher concluded. "You have to wait for the refill, right?"

Naruto looked down again. "Yeah. The whole week is going to be like this."

"When do you take your second dose?" Kakashi asked, already knowing the answer.

"At the end of lunch. I'm supposed to take it on a full stomach."

"Ask Tsunade-sama if you can take it at the beginning of lunch this week," he suggested. "It might take effect quicker that way, and you'll be in more control when my class starts. What do you have E period?"

"Music," Naruto said, scowling. "We're singing right now, and at least that keeps me occupied if I dance to it a little."

"So much the better, explain what's happening, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Okay."

"Now then, isn't you're team waiting for you?"

"Yes! Kakashi-sensei!"

* * *

Wednesday was a nightmare. 

It was snowing lightly, just a hair too heavy to be called flurries, but definitely too light to be labeled snow showers. The kids were already abuzz with the thought of early dismissal, especially given that they'd already missed Monday due to snow. Kakashi listened to just about the entire grade postulate and propose and theorize on when the announcement would be.

At the end of second period, ten minutes before the bell rang, Ebisu made the announcement that there would be an early dismissal, that police were closing roads because of icy conditions. For Kakashi's B period class, that didn't mean much; he had only twelve students, and so squishing them back to work was relatively easy. C period was his prep, and so he used the time to meet with the other teachers to work some more on the interdisciplinary unit they would be launching next week. They had just about finished the planning and were feeling pretty confident when fourth period arrived.

The problem was that fourth period arrived.

To start, there was a long line of students who were asking permission to go to the office to call their parents and let them know that it was an early dismissal, and therefore come pick them up. Takato was audacious enough to pull out a cell phone and actually try to call his father. Kakashi confiscated the phone in the middle of the conversation.

"Now would be a good time to point out that it's against school policy to have a cell phone out in class and that he will be written up for this," he said into the speaker before hanging up and slipping the phone in his pocket. Takato would not stand for this, of course, and demanded several times to have his phone back. Kakashi in response ended up confiscating another; and so the boy decided he would to his damndest to get thrown out of class so that he could call his father in the office.

Ah, the intelligence of twelve year olds.

Naturally, Kakashi wasn't about to let Takato anywhere near the door, telling the boy plainly that he knew what was going on and wouldn't stand for it. This made the acts Takato played even more outlandish, including climbing onto the radiator and jumping on it, shoving desks with students still in them (a move that startled poor Sakura who had been trying desperately to read like she was supposed to) and generally making an ass of himself. Kakashi finally had the boy stand in a corner of the room as he loomed over him, staring darkly at the boy as he tried again and again to be sent to the office. Kakashi merely pulled out a small notebook and kept noting everything the boy did. This particular write up was going to be thorough.

No sooner had he finally gotten the class silently reading for perhaps three minutes that Ebisu made another announcement: lunches would be shortened and students were to report directly to E period classes and wait to be called.

One student absolutely insisted that Ibiki, the one of the school's security personnel, be called to escort him to the office so the boy could sign out and leave under his own power. Kakashi called the scarred man, and was happy that he arrived only to chew the boy out and order him to sit back down. The two of them spent the last half hour fighting with the class - the only angels being Sakura and Sasuke - as they whined, cajoled, and bitched about being in school and the weather and life in general.

Kakashi gave the occasional worried glance across the hall, Iruka was having his demon resource and he could hear several shouts and clanks and other disturbing noises filtering from that direction. The special education teacher's voice was petulant and often rose to the point where Kakashi could make out specific words.

At last the bell rang and the collection of demons ran off to their specials.

Sakura walked up to Kakashi and Ibiki as they were sharing exasperated looks and said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry they were so terrible. I was embarrassed to be in that class."

Ah, what a warm feeling.

"Sakura, students like you make it all worth it," Kakashi said brightly, putting a hand reassuringly on her pink head before shooing her off to Sasuke, who was waiting by the door.

Ibiki shared a few final choice comments, and Kakashi finally wandered into Asuma's room for Team Time.

"It seems I'm not late," he noted happily. It was true, for Iruka was nowhere to be found.

Indeed, the special education teacher appeared fifteen minutes later. Kakashi cheerfully proclaimed, "You're late!" and, as evidence, Iruka tossed the pile of papers in his hands for the other teachers to see. Kakashi made a quick count.

"Six, seven, no eight write ups? Isn't that a record?" he asked.

"'Disobedience to the extreme,'" Gai was reading aloud, "'Student openly refused several times to do any work for any subject.'" He looked at another. "'Student walked out of my room without permission and never came back.' 'Student used her cell phone in class to text parents, and then said it was fine because she was texting and not calling.' 'Student rummaged through my desk without permission.'" The social studies teacher looked up. "Was that the racket that my SSR heard?"

"Among others," Iruka said as he sat down stiffly, sliding into a slouch that rivaled the one Kakashi currently was using. "God, I'm tired. And stiff."

"Want a stiff drink after school?" Kakashi offered.

"No," Iruka muttered, looking exhausted. "Thank god last period is Team. I don't think I could survive F period at this rate."

"Well, it's not going to get any more fun," Asuma said. "F and G are now two days behind everyone else, and we're going to have to bust ass to get them caught up for the stress unit next week. Naruto is going to buckle under all the work."

The special education teacher emitted a low, pitiful groan. "Look at the write up I gave him."

Kakashi found the referral with Naruto's name on it and couldn't help but whistle. "He did all this?"

"In the span of ten minutes. He really can't handle the classroom without the medication. He's not going to buckle, he's going to go nuts."

"Then we'll have to modify for him. What do you suggest, Iruka-sama?"

He snorted but finally pulled himself jerkily out of his slouch. "There's simply no way he's going to have the attention span to do all the assignments, let along listen long enough for the breakneck pace that I've seen you put up when necessary. We'll have to extend the due dates for class work. He should be okay with homework, Yondaime will be with him and things will be quieter at home. Someone else will have to take notes for him, he will catch everything he needs."

"Sakura," Kakashi said without hesitation.

"Hinata," Asuma said almost as quickly. Kurenai gave a knowing grin.

"Is he staying after tomorrow or Friday?" Iruka asked.

"For detention, I think," Kakashi said. "I've been handing out a lot in the last two days."

"Work with him after school. The meds should be in his bloodstream by then and he'll be able to focus more. Get what you can out of him, but don't expect much until he's prescription's been refilled. I can work with him during resource when I'm not killing the rest of the class. Two paras were out today, and one had to leave early to pick up her daughter from preschool. That just left me and one other person to manage the class today."

"Don't handle him," Kakashi said. "Kick him to my SSR; he'll have Sakura and Sasuke with him to work, and it's quiet in there so he should feel better."

"You're a brave man, Scarecrow," Iruka replied. "But I accept. I'm about ready to kill him."

"Any other business?"

"Just a reminder that Shikamaru's PPT is Friday after school."

"Then let's get back to planning next week."

* * *

To say that the screws were put on Naruto was perhaps a little light. The boy knew that he was being problematic, and he was sincerely trying to keep himself under control, but simply couldn't manage it. Kakashi saw just how bad off he was the next day when Iruka pushed him into his room and mouthed the words "Good luck," before disappearing to his resource. 

Kakashi timed him and the boy could not stay silent for more than twenty-seven seconds. He looked at his teacher helplessly sometimes before again turning to his work. The boy, under his own initiative, pulled a desk to the furthest corner of the room and turned it to the wall and away from the students to try and reduce distractions. He even asked the English teacher if it was all right to have his headphones on to drown out whatever noise he knew he would hear and, if he had his pills, he would have been just fine. The twelve-year-old rather expertly handled the attention deficit part of his disorder. But the hyperactivity was what was killing him. He kept twitching, kicking his feet against the wall noisily, tapping on his desk, half humming whatever he was listening to (and horribly off-key), getting up to stretch - an attempt to release the energy that was pent up inside him, cracking his knuckled, etc. The noise he was generating annoyed the rest of the students who were trying to read, and they often threw dark glares at the boy, or worse, complaining.

"Sensei, he's so annoying!" Takato said at one point.

Of course, Naruto could hear this through his headphones, and he would turn around to find out what was going on, pulling his ears clear and asking, "What? What?"

After twenty minutes of this, Kakashi asked if Team 7 could come up to his front desk. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto appeared and he lead them out into the hall.

"It's not working, is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm trying sensei!" he pleaded. "I'm really trying! Don't send me back to Iruka-sensei, it'll only be worse over there."

"Do they know why this is happening?" he asked, gesturing to his two teammates.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Good. The three of you are going to work here in the hall. I'll ask Iruka-sensei that he close his doors. You'll be away from the class so they won't be annoyed by you, and Sakura and Sasuke can monitor you and keep you on track."

"But sensei," Sakura said slowly, frowning in thought. "We aren't trained in learning disorders, how will we know what to do?"

Naruto deflated, shying away.

"That isn't what Sakura meant," Kakashi reassured the boy. "As a teacher, I've had a lot of training in dealing with knuckleheads, idiots, brats, monsters and demons. About the closest you are to any of those, Naruto, is knucklehead. Sakura is just afraid she doesn't have what it takes to keep you in line."

The girl rose to the bait perfectly. "I do too!"

"It's going to be a game," he explained. "Naruto, for every question or assignment or paragraph you write or answer, you get a plus. For every time you look away from your work, get distracted, get off topic, or otherwise become unfocused, you get a minus. At the end of the period total them up. For every plus you have more than a minus - because I expect more pluses than minuses, I'll give to Iruka to put into your participation grade for resource. Sakura and Sasuke will get the same points for their reading grade, so they'll have to be very judicious on what they choose to be a plus and a minus. Have fun."

And he went back into his room.

When the bell rang, Naruto sprinted into the room and handed him a scrap of paper, showing the pluses and the minuses. At a glance he easily had twice as many of the former than the latter. Good. He thanked the boy and shooed him off to class.

After heading out and grabbing a pizza, he wandered into Asuma's room for Team and told Iruka the story before handing him the scrap of paper.

"It's brilliant," Iruka marveled as he looked at the sheet. "He got this many pluses without medication? I'm shocked."

"It's all about motivation and the people he works with," Kakashi replied genially as he bit into his slice. "Those three are the quintessential success story. I can just imagine what those three can accomplish if they stick together over the summer into next year. They might even survive high school together."

"Let's not bitch about that building," Asuma said. "We have a vertical curriculum meeting during the state tests, remember? I want to at least pretend that I like them."

"Speaking of which," Kurenai said softly. "I'm worried about Hinata."

"Oh? How are she and Kiba doing anyway; since they now come to your worry free room everyday?" Gai asked.

"Kiba is actually taking it all pretty well. Once he feels safe he can really cut loose and have fun. He's actually pretty funny when he sets his mind to it, and I get the feeling he just wants to be a kid. He wasn't letting himself when he learned how tight the money was, and now that they're on welfare and his dad is getting training, he feels a little better. Once Mr. Inuzuka is employed again I think he'll be back to his old self. But then, he's not the type to hold onto things. Hinata is, and all the pressure her family is putting her under is starting to get to her.

"She talks about it a little bit in my room after school. The state tests are a big thing in her family, Neji scored the highest of the entire school last year, and they expect no less from her. She won't say it, but you can tell she's petrified. Shino confided in me Tuesday that she thinks if she fails the state tests that they'll disown her or something. Her father has been in constant contact with me over her grades, nit picking every assignment that's below a ninety. The three of them go to the library to work on their homework, and that helps a great deal from what I understand, but her father looks over the homework when she gets home." She gave a long sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised to see her cry when they hand out the bubble sheets two weeks from now."

"And of course," Asuma groaned, fingering an invisible cigarette, "we can't talk to the high and mighty Hyuga; oh, no, heaven forbid we lowly teachers who clearly don't know what we're doing ever, ever, make a suggestion that he pull the stick out of his ass and let the poor girl be herself."

"We must impress upon him the fragile nature of youth!" Gai exclaimed, striking a pose.

"And then he'll have us fired," Kakashi muttered, flipping a page in his book before taking another slice of pizza. "He's already threatened my job twice, I don't really want him to threaten someone else." He looked up. "Talk to the old man, tell him what you've been hearing. He might have a suggestion or two."

"That reminds me," Iruka said as he finished noting the Hinata topic in the team notebook. "Gaara. We need to talk about him."

"We do?" Kurenai asked.

"Yeah, have any of you been noticing anything about him?"

"Besides him overturning a desk in homeroom last week?" Kakashi asked wryly.

"He did what?!" Asuma choked

"Oh, I didn't mention it?" He quickly explained the conversation the goth boy and Kiba had had and the overturning of the desk. "I told Iruka because he had to show up. I thought I mentioned it in team?"

Iruka was flipping back a few pages. "Nope. You didn't. But that's a good point. Any behaviors that you've been noticing?"

"Well, since he was put on escort he hasn't been skipping class," Asuma replied. "He's still absent a lot, but that's because he keeps being thrown to the isolated classes. When he is there he almost always has his headphones on. I have to prod him a little to take them off for lecture or group discussion, but otherwise he just ignores the world and listens to his music. He can do his work, but you really have to hit him in the right mood, otherwise he'll snap at you and put his head on his desk."

Iruka was writing this all down. "Is that about the same for everyone else?" he asked, and everybody nodded.

"He is always very tired in my class," Gai said. "I have him first period of course, but he always seems to be struggling to keep his eyes open."

"He's like that in science, too," Kurenai said. "He's fallen sleep twice that I know of when I've been doing PowerPoint presentations. The lights are off, so a lot of students try to nod off but I have a good handle on them as a rule. He'll fall asleep even when I'm clapping my hands. Is something wrong with him? I know he has trouble with his medication sometimes..."

"I had an episode with him in resource today," Iruka said, still writing things down. "I really don't think the medication he's taking is right for him. He's been having more and more episodes, and last week with the desk they've officially turned violent. He punched a wall today because the noise of the kids was driving him nuts. He was swearing a blue streak and threatening to kill the entire class - in graphic detail. It's a little disturbing when you're told that he's going to take a knife and stab you."

Kakashi blinked. "And you didn't call for help?"

"I did. Tsunade came running along with Ibiki and between the three of us we were able to get him to the health center. He broke two knuckles with that punch. That's why I was so surprised to see all those pluses with Naruto. The three of them had to have seen the us coaxing him down the hall."

He paused, leaning back in his chair, the other teachers staring at him. "Tsunade's been trying to call Yashamaru for an emergency PPT, hopefully after school today. I need as much evidence as I can to make sure I can convince him to either take him off the meds or put him on something else. I also want to see if I can schedule further testing for him. I'm beginning to suspect his initial SED diagnosis might not have been thorough enough. The type he was classified with shouldn't be having him act this way; unless it really is the medication, but I don't see why he's on it at any rate." He rubbed his eyes, tilting his head back. "This is going to be a fight."

"Yashamaru thinks the medication is working?"

"No, he just doesn't know better. He was saddled with an SED kid when he was barely an adult and isn't home enough to really see what an SED kid behaves like. He's so busy trying to make ends meet that he hasn't even had time to research his nephew's problems, and he just assumes everything is fine. So he doesn't believe us when we tell him something is wrong."

"Amateur. Why'd DCF stick him with Yashamaru anyway?" Asuma asked.

"Because that's the only family he has. Can you imagine Gaara in foster care? He'd be bounced from house to house faster than Naruto."

Kakashi sighed. Just when one thing went right, another would go wrong.

* * *

Friday the sun came out for the first time in what felt like years, and it glinted off the ornament Kakashi had hung on his rearview mirror, catching the light and refracting it all over the roof of car. It made the grey and dirty snow almost bearable, and Kakashi had the first hints of a spring in his step as he wandered the halls to his room. 

He did poke his head into Kurenai's room to see the sub had already arrived. It was a new face, and so he introduced himself and let her know the basics, mentioning that Asuma's room was the first place to send a student if they were going to be pains, and that mentioning it to the kids would be a good idea, blah, blah, blah.

He wandered into his room to see Sasuke and Sakura looming over Naruto, who was very close to bouncing off the walls.

"What happened this time?" he asked.

"We're trying to figure out how he'll survive today," Sasuke replied. Naruto was working himself into a frenzy. "We have a test in Social Studies and he didn't get a chance to study last night."

Poor Gai. "Just use the pluses and the minuses," he said lightly. "I'll go tell Gai-sensei about them and we'll see if we can use that as extra credit on your tests."

All three students looked up at him greedily at the thought of extra credit, before the pink and black heads turned immediately to the blond with steely determination.

Overall, the day went quietly. Naruto did burst into his room at the beginning of SSR to announce how well he did on the test before Sakura and Sasuke ushered him out to the hall to again help him catch up on his work. Team was a rush to organize posters and do last minute print outs for the Stress Unit they were going to hold next week, and F period was surprisingly quiet, a certain blond having calmed significantly after taking his afternoon medication.

After school, Kakashi and Asuma walked together down the halls to the conference room in guidance. Nara was in the waiting room, and the three greeted each other quickly.

"Is the room on hold?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Nara replied. "I guess another PPT is running late. It happened all the time last year. We parents like to talk," he added, grinning slightly. "I told Shikamaru about it, I'm surprised he isn't with you."

"If he's late that means he's taking after Kakashi," Asuma offered, and the three adults laughed.

Shikamaru appeared ten minutes later, and when questioned about where he was, he simply said, "I was fighting with that troublesome girl."

"Oh? Still no progress?" Kakashi asked.

The thin boy frowned, taking a long time to answer before finally saying, "No. I think she finally gets it now." He made a face. "I hope."

Kakashi was officially curious, and he was about to pry when the conference room door opened and people began leaking out. The Scarecrow blinked to see a stormy looking Yashamaru as he stomped out of the room, face as black as thunder. The English teacher stepped against the flow and saw Iruka at the table, his head in his hands and looking years older than he actually was. He caught Kakashi's glance and mouthed the words, "Life sucks," before putting on a smile as Nara and his son walked in.

"So, I've been noticing a dip in grades," Nara said as he sat down. The PPT secretary had disappeared to get the folder for the meeting. "Anything I should know about?"

"I think it has more to do with one of his friends than anything we're doing," Asuma said slowly, eyeing the boy.

"You mean Chouji," Nara said. "Yeah, it's an ugly situation all around. Shikamaru has been dropping by the house regularly, and when he comes back he just starts gaming."

Kakashi looked to the boy. "Are you struggling with it?"

"Who wouldn't be?" he muttered, looking down at the table. "He's my best friend."

"There are structures of support for these kinds of things," Iruka said.

"They won't help. That stuff's for kids."

"You're a kid too, Shika," his father said softly, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"No I'm not," he whispered. "I'm an old man in a kid's body; that's what you've always said. All those skits and activities is just crap for me. I know what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't help me deal with it. Chouji's the only one who could help me deal with anything and now..." He frowned, looking up and realizing he was expressing his thoughts out loud.

"Now you have Ino," Asuma said softly. The boy looked up, startled. "She's always had the potential to be a good support structure; once you dig through the shallow exterior and the desperate need for attention she has, she's actually frighteningly loyal and compassionate about the people she lets close to her. She'll put you through a ringer, but once you pass all her tests she'll never walk away from you, and now you've finally passed all her tests, and you're probably very surprised that she's passing all yours. Am I right?"

The boy was openly staring. "How...?"

Asuma grinned. "Kakashi-sensei isn't the only one with observational skills. You need to be pretty observant to play chess, and you haven't beaten me yet, have you?"

Shikamaru blinked, absorbing the words slowly before an embarrassed flush crept across his cheeks. Asuma continued: "The two of you have been inching towards a breakthrough since Chouji left, and I was beginning to think I'd have to initiate it, but it's nice to see someone even as lazy as you can work on his own."

Nara laughed good-naturedly. "You've been amazing, Asuma-sensei," he said, clapping the boy on the back.

"Genius attracts genius," the math teacher replied, sounding perfectly bored.

The secretary finally arrived and passed out the form, and the PPT officially began.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Plate spinning chapter. 

What Kakashi says at the beginning of the chapter is a rough collection of anything I've ever wanted to say when I watch a pair of twelve year olds making out in the halls. I don't think any teacher in their right mind would say some of the things he said, but it's Kakashi, and he can get away with stuff like that.

The half day from hell is another true story from the trenches known as subbing, and we've had any number of students that happily proclaim that they forgot to take their meds while bouncing off the wall and driving us to commit murder.

Poor Hinata. That girl is under severe stress and it's only going to get worse.

**Sarimia**: Hehe. Like we said in the author's notes, the worry-basket was based off of something we were told by another teacher. That was for an elementary student, but I think it could work on some level with middle school students, depending on the relationship, the teacher, the kid, etc. Ah yes, high school. Teachers tend to be more isolated in high school, their support being not a team but their department. Thus, collecting information on how a student behaves is more of a hunting expedition. Plus, as you start separating teachers out for subjects, you see the kid less and less. Only an hour a day. That makes judging situations difficult sometimes. As a sub, I've had plenty of instances where I wasn't sure if a student was pulling my leg or not and decided to give the benefit of the doubt and wrote it all down. And yes, we update once a week. Every Saturday. The only reason there'd be a delay is if our weeks don't match up with this year. (This week is the first week of March, so this chapter is the first week of March.) And the fact that you seemed to read this all in one sitting? Go you!

**Jill Bioskop**: Yes, Ino is growing. We saw another aspect of that in this chapter. Yes, Shino is feeling quite guilty. But he's very quiet and didn't want to discuss it with us. We assume he's talked to Kurenai in their worry-free environment. You are correct, eating would mean more strength, etc, but one thing that's gotta be understood (and part of the reason behind this story and it's educational intent) is that kids in poorer districts DON'T think like that. Kiba's focus of survival was that there needed to be money. So work his ass off. Another focus for Kiba was that even with the money, the budget of things were tight. How do you save money? What could there be a less need of? He came up with food to ensure that his siblings had enough. He doesn't know everything necessary to run a household, just what he sees around him. So that was his choice. It doesn't make sense, but it was all he could see and do. Yes, Gaara. We're not telling anything about him. Well, there does seem to be a long line who want to strangle Hinata's dad and Orochimaru (more for Hinata's dad, oddly enough...) And yes, we do drop hints a lot. But, like in real life, you don't always see it coming. We'd like to think we still have some hefty surprises coming.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Yes, Orochimaru is a god-acting jerk. To be fair to him in this story, he _is_ good with the students (after all, he rounds up followers, doesn't he?). Plus, he convinces them to look for power. For some, it's all these kids have and his advice may be skewed, but it can get them out of bad situations (Kimimaru comes to mind...) That doesn't mean he's easy to work with by any stretch of the imagination, and he clearly does illegal things (like keeping Sasuke's abuse secret). Us? Like Kakashi? In our dreams. There's a big difference between this fic (ie: how we want to teach) and reality. But we can reach for it, even if we don't make it, we'll always be trying. Hope you survived the week wait.

**Spider-Wench**: We agree, watching seizures isn't fun to watch by any stretch of the imagination. The hard part is that you can't let yourself freeze up and have to deal with it and the students around you. Don't worry. Kakshi and Iruka will have lots of open-to-interpretation moments, as you've noticed, over the course of this story. Also, now that Kiba's diagnosed, he probably will have some level of health care. In our state (we believe) all diabetic testing supplies are supposed to be free. Assuming that Kiba's family has some type of insurance, I'd like him under that kind of plan. Yes, Chouji will be back, but not until May. Who says Orochimaru's planning anything? Who's to say he doesn't just enjoy being a jackass to his colleagues.

**Pnkrockninja101**: Yay! A new reviewer! Welcome to our little edu-tainment story. We, like we said to Sarimia, update every Saturday afternoon. And don't worry, we haven't even gotten to Bloody April yet. You'll have lots still to read.

**TheBlackRoseOfKonoha**: And another new reviewer! Yatta! Welcome. Yes, poor Hinata. This month isn't going to be good for her. State tests are stressful, to say nothing of the expectations of her, like we already mentioned in this chapter.

Thanks to everyone. See you next week.


	26. Week 25

**March: Week Twenty-Five**

* * *

When Kakashi walked down the hall Monday morning, his senses were assaulted by images never meant to be seen in public. It seemed like, everywhere he glanced, someone was in a lip-lock, petting private areas, smushed together, or all around displaying acts best left at home, the most disturbing of which was the Takamura boy kissing and groping _both_ of the Sasaki twins. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn that Temari had possessed the entire student body and convinced them to basically have sex with their clothes on in public. 

Spring was also definitely in the air, with temperatures warming about ten degrees over the weekend alone. Granted, there was another storm coming in at the end of the week, but Kakashi forecasted nothing more than rain. And, naturally, with the rising temperature, there was a not-so-subtle change in how the girls dressed. Jeans were replaced with skirts so short that when sitting down, they couldn't cover their underwear on the seats, showing off skinny bone-thin legs; sweatshirts and nice think sweaters were thrown out in favor of low-cut shirts and designs to emphasize bust lines, be they large or small (and the large busts _didn't_ need the emphasizing); the cozy look was exchanged for whatever the latest teen magazine said was sexy; boots were put away in favor of sandals and slip-on shoes. The boys also had some changes, in that they were starting to wear short-sleeve shirts.

Kakashi couldn't help but frown. It was a horrendous display, and one he wasn't proud off. These kids were trying to rush into what they thought was adult behavior. Really, they should cherish their childhoods while they still had the chance. Childhood was so much shorter than adulthood, so much more carefree, even for kids like Kiba who fretted about money in the household, or girls who were parents to their entire family. But it was in their heads that they wanted to grow up and it was in their heads that grown ups acted this way, be it through examples at home or the media. It was really quite sad. And when one of these girls got pregnant, there would be no more childhood.

Arriving at his room, Kakashi was in somewhat of a foul mood. These public displays of affection were not the first thing he wanted to see in the morning. So, when he sat down in homeroom, he sent out an email to the entire building.

"_Has anyone else noticed all the groping in the halls?_"

Naruto came up to him once he sent the email, and Kakashi glanced behind him to see that Sasuke was glaring at Sakura's empty chair. The English teacher raised an eyebrow behind his headband. It was unlike Sakura to be late.

"Yes?" he turned back to Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei... I really wanna apologize for last week. You musta been ready to strangle me, especially during class, and I also wanna thank you for that plus/minus thing you did. It really saved my as-er-butt, especially in social studies."

Kakashi didn't bother to hide his grin. "I want you to realize, Naruto, that all I did was provide a system. You did the rest on your own."

The blond smiled back. "Yeah, well, we refilled my prescription Saturday, so you won't have to worry about all that stuff."

"Good. Does Asuma-sensei know you and Sasuke are here?"

"Of course," Naruto replied indignantly, crossing his arms and squinting down at him. "He always knows before we drop by. Now where's Sakura?"

"Good question. Maybe she's home sick today?"

"You mean she hasn't come in yet?" Sasuke demanded darkly, appearing at Naruto's side.

"No."

"But I saw her get off the bus this morning," Naruto's frown deepened as the announcements came on.

Kakashi was about to add something, when he saw a flash of pink by the door. Getting up, he went to his door, Naruto and Sasuke trailing behind him, and saw Sakura at her locker, unzipping her large warm coat. "There," the Scarecrow smiled. "No go have a seat."

The two looked to each other before wandering back to where Sakura usually sat in front of Kakashi's desk, giving Kakashi a chance to take attendance. He had just sent it in when Sakura, head down, shuffled into the room. The rest of Team 7 was on its feet in an instant and Sasuke got to her first.

"Sakura?" he asked quietly.

The girl raised her head, her face twisted to try and hold back tears. She met Sasuke's eyes for only a moment, glanced and Naruto, sniffled, and put her head on Sasuke's shoulder, grabbing his shirt and letting out a wail of pain as she burst into tears. Sasuke looked stricken for a moment before awkwardly putting his arms around her, patting her shoulder before Naruto engulfed both of them in a warm embrace.

Kakashi called Tsunade before rushing over and kneeling where Sakura had dragged them down, unable to hold herself up.

"Last night... last night..." she sobbed, letting go of Sasuke's shirt and wrapping her arms around him and Naruto the best she could, "my mom... she collapsed... wouldn't let me see her... last night..." she hiccupped, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks unchecked. "Don't know what's wrong... Dad's with her but... I couldn't see her!"

A hand sneaked through the embrace and Hinata squeezed Sakura's trembling hand, her own tiny offering of support while the rest of the homeroom looked on, unsure of what to do. Sakura's sobs were barely comprehensible if one wasn't close enough. Kakashi's main concern, however, was why Sakura's father had sent her to school when she was obviously so upset.

"Sakura?" he asked quietly. "Can you stand? Tsunade-sama is coming and you can talk to her about your mother's condition."

Still wracked with sobs, Sakura only managed a little nod. Naruto and Sasuke immediately gave her a little room, Hinata retreated back to her desk, and Kakashi handed out his handkerchief. Sakura whipped at her eyes, still sniffling, but clearly making an effort to get herself back under control. With Sasuke's help, she stood up and gave a watery smile.

"Thanks," she whispered, struggling to hold back the sobs. Turning she wiped her eyes again with the small square of cloth as Tsuande arrived and put a comforting hand around the small girl's shoulders. The nurse gently led the two out of the room.

Kakashi rounded on Sasuke and Naruto, the dark boy's shirt damp on his shoulder, and Naruto looking pale. Hinata sat nearby, her face even whiter and looking down to her lap.

"Sasuke, Naruto, you'd better get back to Asuma-sensei's room. If I hear anything I'll let you know but you'll probably see her before me. The same goes for you Hinata, I'll keep you informed."

Hinata jumped, seemed to pale even further, and continued to stare down at her lap. Naruto glanced back at her, but Sasuke merely nodded grimly and stalked out of the room, his teammate close behind glancing at the timid Hyuga girl once more.

First and second periods were relatively normal. Rumors about Sakura were flying, but the Scarecrow wasn't letting once ounce of gossip occur in his room. He called everyone on his team and looked up Sakura's specials teachers, letting them know that Sakura was going through something and that she either may not be in class, or may be very distracted.

After he had kicked all the kids out from B Period, Kakashi made a bee-line straight to the health center and found Tsunade giving aspirin to a fifth grader who had a large bruise forming on his knee.

He waited patiently by the curtain as the child took the medicine and the young-looking nurse sprayed antiseptic on the bruise before pulling out a bandaid for a scrape in the center of the purple blotch.

Tsunade filled out a pass to the boy to get him back to class before ignoring Kakashi and taking him to another curtained area further down the hall. Pulling back a curtain, she revealed Sakura, sound asleep on the bed, looking pale but peaceful. She sniffed, snuggling deeper into the pillow, and returned to blissful slumber.

There were very few things that could really pull at Kakashi's heartstrings. This wasn't to say he was heartless, but he'd spent years with disadvantaged kids. He cared. But over time, there was a certain desensitization that occurred to some of the shit that these kids went through. That, and he'd put a wall between himself and the students. He was, after all, a professional. He was friendly with the students, and several of them would call him their friend, but they never really knew him. Thus, when it came to what the kids went through, Kakashi could look at it all with a clear mind.

Whether it be fortunately or unfortunately, however, Team 7 had wormed their way deep into Kakashi's battered and bruised heart. He couldn't say why they'd become so important to him, what quality each had alone or together that generated parental feelings in him that he'd never experienced before, but they had. Sasuke had generated protective feelings in Kakashi that he hadn't felt since he'd had his important people. When Itachi crossed the dark boy's path, the Scarecrow wanted to go that extra mile to ensure Sasuke's safety. Whatever Naruto was feeling, Kakashi wanted to be there for him. When students picked on him, the English teacher wanted to stand in front of him and block out the harsh words. And now, with Sakura suffering, he desperately wanted to take the pain from her.

In a moment of letting his intense caring show, Kakashi leaned down and brushed a few stray hairs out of the girls face, noting her tear-stained cheeks. It really sucked to be powerless.

Sighing, he turned back to Tsunade and saw an unreadable look on her face before following her back to her tiny office, away from the main hubbub of the health center. She sank heavily into her chair and Kakashi slouched into another chair facing her, reaching up to rub his eyes that were stinging and watery.

"Have you contacted her father?" he asked quietly, leaning back.

"Yes. He's back at the hospital while they're running more tests. He apologized profusely about the inconvenience and admits that he wasn't thinking straight this morning." She gave a snort. "He knew he couldn't handle her hanging around on pins and needles and thought that she'd be distracted by school. He says that she was handling everything very well last night and is honestly surprised to hear that she was in tears this morning. Unfortunately, he can't get away from the hospital, since he was just told results would be coming in soon from the tests."

Kakashi snorted this time. "She was probably keeping all that worry inside so that _he_ wouldn't worry..."

"And it all came rushing out this morning," Tsunade nodded. She leaned back in her chair and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Does he know yet what's wrong with her mother?"

"No." She gazed at him steadily. Kakashi gazed back. He knew better than to mess with the head nurse, but that didn't mean he'd take anything from her lying down.

"Is there a problem?"

Tsunade continued to look at him before arching an eyebrow. "You seem different."

Kakashi said nothing.

"Whenever with Gaara, Kiba, Ryoko, any student of the seventh grade, you're your usual self." She frowned. "But with Sakura, Naruto, or Sasuke, you're very different."

He raised a hidden eyebrow.

"You can't be close with the students."

"Who says I am?"

Tsunade glared at him. "Fine. Be that way. Get out of here. Now."

"Fine, fine," he replied, easing up and went into Sakura's small curtained area. He sat down by her bed and pulled out a book. It wasn't like he was really going to be able to get anything done this period anyway.

* * *

Sakura had woken up shortly before the end of the period and hurried to the bathroom to clean up a little before she went to guidance to talk to Jiraiya. So when Kakashi arrived (late) to his SSR class, he was unsurprised to see Sasuke and Naruto in front of his desk, waiting impatiently for him. He couldn't help but chuckle as he sat down. "Naruto, could you please get Hinata? I think she'd appreciate hearing this as well." 

The blond frowned, but disappeared.

Sasuke kept glaring down at Kakashi and the English teacher was overwhelmed with fondness once again for Team 7. They took the concepts of teamwork to what they were meant to be. Not just an exercise in working with other people, but getting to know and supporting others.

"She's never been that upset," the stoic boy murmured.

"I imagine not. This is the first time that she's faced the possibility of losing someone." Kakashi leaned forward onto his hand and glanced up at Sasuke. "You've lost people," he stated simply. "Naruto's never really had anyone to lose. Until now."

Sasuke's frown deepened. The Scarecrow wouldn't say any more on the subject. If Sakura's mother's condition really _was_ serious, then she was going to need Sasuke in the sad and hopefully remote possibility of her mother passing on. But he wasn't the type to talk about what he'd gone through when he lost his parents. All Kakashi could do was put out what should be done. The rest was up to him if it even occurred.

Naruto arrived with a severely blushing Hinata trailing behind him and once all three were in front of his desk, he spoke. "It's still unknown what's wrong with Sakura's mother. She's been sleeping in the health center all morning, and from the looks of things, she needed it rather desperately. She will probably come back to class this period."

Hinata let out an audible sigh of relief, sagging onto Naruto's surprised shoulder.

Frowning, Kakashi glanced at all three of them. "She'll be needing all of you."

"She's got us!" Naruto proclaimed.

"Good, now get back to where you need to be."

Naruto and Hinata left and Sasuke sat back in his usual seat, pulling out a book. SSR returned to normal, with the usual irritation of students who pretended to read the same page (which only had about three sentences) for the entire period. Kakashi was unsurprised, though slightly disappointed, that today Sasuke joined the ranks of those staring at a single page.

About fifteen minutes into the period, Sakura slipped in, barely making a sound, slid into her seat, and pulled out her book. She paused only a moment, turned to Kakashi, and gave a weak smile. Sliding down into her seat, she turned to her bookmarked page, and Sasuke reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

Behind them where they couldn't see, Kakashi smiled brightly.

* * *

When class was over, the English teacher followed the students out and had lunch with the sixth grade teachers again, getting more gossip and stories on what the next year's class would bring. He lingered, relishing the adult time that was purely relaxing and not dealing with crisis after crisis. However, he lingered for another reason. 

When the second lunch wave settled in, the Scarecrow finally left the teacher's lounge and went across the hall to the cafeteria. The roseate head he was searching for was at a table near the windows, staring out as her team surrounded her, her lunch in front of her but untouched. Kakashi stood behind Sasuke, who was across from her, with Naruto by her side.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto munched.

Sasuke craned his neck around and Sakura looked up. "I just wanted to check in," he replied. "Naruto? Would you and Sasuke mind making sure that Sakura eats her lunch?"

Both looked down at the grilled cheese Sakura had gotten from the lunch line, with one slice of its bread wheat and the other white. Such was the state of poor schools like this.

"No problem!" Naruto exclaimed, taking another bite from his grinder and turning to his female teammate. Kakashi grinned to himself before heading over to the health center to check in with Tsunade again.

He found her with another student, this one taking medication and was probably a special education student from one of the younger grades. She glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, but pulled another nurse to write the student a pass while she walked with Kakashi back to her tiny office.

"Anything new?" he asked.

She glared at him. "You were here two hours ago. Nothing new. Besides, Sakura would be the first to know, the school would be the last."

At that, Kakashi offered a wry grin. "That may be, but after you had to call earlier? I'd have thought that the dad would be a bit more conscientious."

Tsunade snorted. "Let me offer you some free advice. I know about you and the Hyuga. If they catch wind on how involved you are with Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, you'll lose your job before the end of the day. They keep sniffing around, even here."

The English teacher was taken aback. He knew that the Hyuga weren't fond of him, and frankly he wasn't that fond of them, given how stressed Hinata was (their stress unit really was good timing...), but that was why he'd cut himself off with dealing with them. Kurenai was the one they went to and she had always been forthcoming with her frustrations when dealing with the parents. Apparently, they were still looking for his job.

Well damn.

They wouldn't get it, of that he was certain. He was far too careful in his dealings with students. He was exceptionally careful to ensure that nothing he did could be misconstrued as such vultures would love to do. However, Tsunade had a point. If even she noticed his level of care for his precious Team 7, a nurse who wasn't a part of the every day hustle and bustle of the student's lives, then he was going to have to tiptoe around them. Unfortunately, he had to do so without pulling away. Sasuke had chosen Kakashi as the teacher he trusted, and while he was hardly open about everything in his life, the stoic boy had proven that he'd go to the Scarecrow if he needed to. While Iruka was Naruto's main support, Kakashi seemed to be high up there as well. As for Sakura, well, she'd ultimately come to him about the bullying she was suffering through. Those were ties that couldn't be severed.

Kakashi sighed. He wouldn't abandon them. But he was going to have to be _far_ more careful in regards to how he handled them. The Scarecrow may miss Hinata next year, but he certainly wasn't going to miss her parents. Hopefully, Hanabi, Hinata's sister, would be on the other team when she got there.

"Thanks," he said, and Tsunade just watched him go, leaning back herself to rub her eyes.

With a slow shuffle, the English teacher headed back down the hall to get to Team, stopping in the office briefly to check his mail, when he was stopped.

"Ah, there you are, Kakashi."

Looking up, he saw the young cooking teacher Hagane Kotetsu. "Yes?"

"I wanted to talk to you about C Period. I was trying to find Iruka, but I think he's been busy all day."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. No doubt Naruto's been frantic with worry about Sakura. Busy? No doubt. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure," Kotetsu replied. "But I thought you should know about an incident that happened in class today."

"Oh?"

"Well," the cooking teacher frowned. "We were making a simple stir-fry today, and that requires a lot of chopping ingredients."

The Scarecrow felt an empty dread drop into his stomach. One of his students plus knives equals an incident all right.

"Kazekage Gaara doesn't have anything in his IEP about handling certain things. I mean his disability has nothing to do with motor control, right?"

Kakashi vaguely nodded, visions of what Gaara would do with a knife swimming into his mind. And he'd just eaten lunch too...

"So he was chopping up the onions when he started swearing a blue-streak. I mean my father would have turned red with the curses that boy was throwing around."

Oh no...

"I was getting concerned that he'd start using the knife in his hand when Kankuro, of all kids, walks over. I don't know what he was whispering under his breath, but Gaara seemed to calm relatively quickly."

...Kankuro? The puppet-master troublemaker who was almost never caught?

"I sent Gaara out, in any case, but I was getting concerned with him and the knife." Kotetsu gave a pointed look. "I'm not sure about keeping him in my class if he's going to snap with sharp objects in his hand. I need to talk to Iruka about his modifications. Would you mention this to him?"

Kakashi nodded again, the weight of the day dropping his shoulders heavily.

"You're late!" Iruka shouted when Kakashi finally arrived in Asuma's room. "Much later than usual!"

The English teacher just slumped into his seat without an excuse. "It's been a _long_ day," he replied. Quickly and precisely, he told them everything that he'd learned thus far.

When he got through what was going on with Sakura, Gai and Iruka were frowning. Once he finished explaining the Hyuga, Asuma swore and Kurenai gasped in indignation. He rounded off with what Kotetsu had told him and all of them were slack-jawed.

"Is it Friday yet?" Asuma growled. "It feels like it. This much can't happen in just one day. Hell, the day isn't even over yet..."

"Immediate concern: Gaara," Kakashi stated flatly, opening his book. "His episodes are starting to increase in frequency. Iruka, how was that PPT last Friday? You didn't look happy afterward."

The special education teacher let out a harsh laugh. "Yashamaru's digging in his heals. Says nothings wrong with Gaara; that he's been doing what we've told him to do in the small amount of time he has with Gaara. He's getting fed up with all the suggestions we're making, saying they won't do anything and are useless. If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn he was hinting at us making it all up, despite all the documentation we had. Ebisu almost blew a gasket when Yashamaru suggested that we cut back on some of the restrictions we've been placing on Gaara."

Asuma let out a word that everyone was thinking of.

"Yeah," Iruka retorted, a slight bitterness coloring his tone. "We're basically on our own with Gaara. I'd say we can't trust any support at home anymore."

"I think he does mean well," Kakashi muttered, "but he's just not ready for parenthood."

"Ya think?" Asuma growled. "What we need is to try and discern what triggers Gaara's episodes."

"It's SED," Iruka grumbled. "You'd need to be a trained shrink to figure that out."

Together, they started discussing how to best modify to try and prevent these episodes. While Gaara was going to have to learn how to deal with them and that whatever the triggers were, they couldn't always be avoided, the increasing frequency was their primary concern at the moment. They all agreed that Gaara would have to be limited away from sharp objects, just in case, since he had proven to be violent on occasion when he overturned Kiba's desk.

Ultimately, while they had some ideas, they got nowhere. Without support from Yashamaru, anything they did wasn't likely to stick for very long.

Sometimes, being a teacher really sucked.

They continued their discussion for the remainder of the period and Kakashi lingered to talk to Kurenai about ensuring that Hinata had plenty of support.

He was late for F Period as a result, naturally, but was pleased to note that everyone was working on the warm up. Shikamaru and Ino were leaning over with each other, discussing the question on the board. Team 7 was already writing down answers and the rest of the class was hard at work.

While they worked, Kakashi spoke with Iruka briefly, changing what the assignment for the day would be and who would go with Iruka to his classroom. Once it was clear that everyone had finished their warm up, class began.

"All right," the English teacher started, "I know you were all excited to review grammar today for the tests next week--" the class groaned loudly, "--but we're going to do something different today. We're going to be working on the tumultuous five-paragraph-essay." The class groaned even louder. "Now you still have it easy, you'll be working with your teams, brainstorming, and structuring. You'll be peer-reviewing your essays like we've done before, so make sure you leave enough time to write your individual essays in class. Time management, after all, is important when you actually take the state tests. The topic," Kakashi turned to the whiteboard and picked up a marker, "A friend of yours is in an extremely stressful situation at home. Due to the strain they are under, when confronted with another stressor, they strike out. Was this person right to do so?" Of course, he had chosen that topic because it would help Sakura work through, at least a little bit, of what she was going through with her mother.

"Even teams, you're with me," Iruka called out.

The class trudged about doing their assignment, half following Iruka to his room across the hall, the remainder huddling together. They started their discussions and Kakashi wandered around, making suggestions or clarifying as the situation required. Teams 3 and 5 tended to get side tracked, and Team 9 wasn't even discussing, they went straight to writing. When he walked by Sakura, he saw her talking quietly while staring at her hands to her teammates and Kakashi noted that Naruto and Sasuke were listening attentively and offering support in their own way. The blond boy was nodding and interjecting his usual proclamations while Sasuke sat just a little closer and would hesitantly reach out and squeeze a hand or shoulder if Sakura was feeling particularly emotional. The Scarecrow kept his overflowing pride to himself.

Team 1, however, was the most interesting to eavesdrop over. Temari and Kankuro together were a very good paring. The blond girl had the brains for each assignment, but not necessarily the drive. Kankuro, by contrast, may not be the smartest of the team, but he did care about his grades. So, being the manipulative little sneak that he was, he could goad his teammate into working. However, they weren't a two-person team. They had Gaara as well. As a teacher, and having worked with disadvantaged kids for years, as well as having been overseas, Kakashi could handle just about anything that a student could dish out. While Gaara's outbursts were hardly pleasant, Kakashi had seen much worse, so doing what he needed to for Gaara was a breeze.

For the average student, however, the redheaded boy could be petrifying. Seeing the insomniac suddenly screaming for no reason, cussing out teachers, and then just as suddenly crumple into a muttering ball of nonsense, was disconcerting, shocking, and unlike anything they'd probably witnessed before. Before recent changes in NCLB, Gaara had been kept in an isolated classroom, but with a push for more mainstreaming of special education students, the redhead was now with his classmates, facing whatever triggered his episodes regularly. The redhead wasn't stupid. He could do all the work that his classmates did, but he wasn't a social creature.

So when observing Team 1, it was always fascinating for Kakashi to see the anti-social Gaara interact with Temari and Kankuro. Kankuro, caring about his grade and being the puppet-master, would try and cajole Gaara into working with them. Under most circumstances, Gaara would agree and do his work separately, then share with the group to see whose answer was best. Temari would offer positive praise for whatever Gaara did, even if her answers were better and Gaara would either say nothing or just nod. While not the ideal way to work together as a team, it was something that worked for the three of them. So Kakashi couldn't help but wonder why Gaara, who kept himself isolated from everyone, would listen to Kankuro so readily and calm down.

Thus, Kakashi eavesdropped. Given the topic on the board, the English teacher was unsurprised to see Gaara contributing more than usual. He thought the violent reaction was correct, especially if there is no other outlet, it had to come out somehow. Temari was disagreeing, saying that a different outlet was _always_ available, such as writing, drawing, or other such things. Kankuro, contrary to both of them, stated that it all depended on the situation. Since they weren't given specific details, both of them were correct.

Listening to them was fascinating, especially with Gaara participating more than he usually did. However, Kakashi couldn't linger, since his phone rang.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei speaking."

"Hello," Shizune's voice replied. "I'm calling for Sakura for an early release."

The English teacher glanced at Team 7, all of whom were writing their essays. "Do we know what the problem is?"

Shizune gave a dry chuckle. "I had a feeling you'd ask that. All her father said was that it was 'subclavian steal syndrome'."

Kakashi scribbled down the medical jargon to search on his own, but thanked Shizune and hung up.

Since Sakura was right in front of his desk, he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura, you're being given an early dismissal. Your father's here to pick you up."

The color that the girl had gained since when she'd collapsed into tears during homeroom drained from her face. "My dad's... here?"

"Yes." He handed out her pass. "If you're here tomorrow, I'll expect you to hand in the essay during homeroom."

"Yes, sensei," she whispered, gathering her things in a daze.

Naruto and Sasuke said their good-byes, offering as much support as they could, while Kakashi picked up the phone and called Iruka across the hall.

"Kakashi?"

"Have Hinata in the hall. Now. Sakura's on her way to the hospital with her father."

Iruka didn't reply, instead, hanging up and from across the hall, Kakashi could hear Iruka calling Hinata over. Discreetly, the English teacher meandered over to the door and saw the timid Hyuga and the pale Haruno hugging in the hall. That done, Kakashi wandered around his students once more before sitting by his desk to do some research.

* * *

After school, Kakashi finally had a chance to look at his email. He was surprised to see the number of responses to his message that morning. Apparently he wasn't the only one disturbed to see all the public displays of affection so early in to morning and Sandaime had replied, saying that he'd schedule an assembly later that week to address these concerns with the student body. The English teacher was pleased, to say the least. 

He'd also gotten a fair knowledge of Subclavian Steal Syndrome. Basically, Sakura's mother's blood was flowing backwards due to narrowing arteries. Or at least, that was what he was able to make sense of. While a dangerous disease, it was treatable from what Kakashi understood, and it seemed unlikely that the Haruno would lose their matriarch. However, it was blood flowing to the wrong place in the brain, so they'd have to be careful.

Kakashi sent out an email to his team with links to the more resourceful sites he'd found, before pushing the students hanging out in his room to other people, since he had a PPT to get to.

It was a strange echo of Friday when the English teacher plopped down next to Asuma while waiting for the conference room to empty of whatever meeting they were having. Iruka came in a moment later, rubbing his eyes, and with stiffness in his gate.

"We'll probably be called in in a minute," the special education teacher stated, sitting and stretching a leg. "The Akimachi are taking with Sandaime and Ebisu right now."

Almost on cue, the door opened, and the secretary motioned for the three teachers to come in.

"Thank you for meeting with us," Chouji's mother nodded to all of them.

"Yes, thank you," the father greeted. "I'm certain you all want an update on how our son is doing."

"We have a little bit of an idea," Asuma replied, fingering a missing cigarette. "Shikamaru's been talking a little bit about Chouji and when he gets to see him. I understand he's lost weight?"

Both parents nodded. "Yes. He's gotten quite skinny," the mother responded. "But he's taking the rehab center fairly well. While it's still hard to tell, we were thinking of sending him back to school around the beginning of May."

"That soon?" Kakashi asked. "Do you think he'll be able to handle his peers?"

The father nodded. "We've talked a lot with him about that. He just wants to get back to normal. Hanging out with Shikamaru and going to school. Of course," he grinned wryly, "when he comes back he's going to have a lot of restrictions."

"You bet he is," the mother growled. "He's still going to be grounded until he's fifty."

"How has he been doing with the work we've been sending in?" Iruka asked, redirecting the conversation. "We'll probably have to test him before he comes in again, make sure he hasn't missed much and can pick up where the classes will be."

"He's been maintaining his work," Chouji's father replied. "There's a fairly good tutor at the center that's been helping, and whenever Shikamaru visits, or Ino, they help him out as well."

Ino was visiting? Kakashi glanced at Asuma who had on a sly grin. How interesting.

They spent the better part of an hour talking about what Chouji would need if he did come back to school and realistic looks at what he'd be facing from his peers. Chouji's parents listened to everything they had to say and offered their own observations and ideas. There wasn't any definitive plan made yet, but it got the ball rolling. As always, Kakashi was pleased with the Akimachi and how supportive they were. Why Chouji got into drugs, he'd never know, but it was a refreshing change of pace.

Still, it had been a loooong Monday. Once the Akimichi had left, Kakashi turned to his teammates. "Let's go out. I'm buying."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yet another plate-spinner. We haven't really visited Team 7 in a while, and Sakura knocked on my noggin with this story. We _have_ had students who are dealing with illness at home (ex: Mom dying of leukemia) and they tend to act out in anger and become problematic (no matter how sweet they were before) because they have a lot of negative energy flowing around. Thankfully, that's not the case with Sakura's mother. Also, after our recent treck with sudden hospital visits, this chapter seems unrealistic. Sakura's dad would keep her home from school and take her to the hospital that day. . Ah well. This _was_ written last summer. Yes, Chouji will come back the first week of May, and yes, we've seen outrageous fashions in kids who don't really realize how they're dressing. I once pulled aside a high schooler (a senior no less), who was in hot pants and a very tight shirt (you could see the sports bra underneath, and this school didn't have a dress code at the time). I told her that she, basically, looked easy. Her response was that she wasn't and that it wasn't her problem if guys thought that way. (sigh) You can't explain to them about how you dress can be an invitation to try.

Meh. Next week, state tests, I believe.

**Sarimia**: Thank you for the compliment. We tend to be very critical of our own work and such praise does wonders for our tiny egos.We're sorry that you feel school is unproductive. ( Please stick with it, as an education will open doors to your future. It may just be the teachers you have this year, or you might see the difference when you get into college, but that piece of paper gives you more opportunities.

**InoShikaCho**: Hehe. Naruto and "hyper". Indeed. In the Naruto universe, he probably doesn't take any medication, and as such, Kakashi is apt in describing him as the knuckle-headed ninja. However, in our little span of the cosmos, Naruto would probably be tested for ADHD. This doesn't mean he's stupid, it just means that he has a little trouble with concentrating and he has too much energy. Proper diagnosis and medication and modifications, can do wonders, as we saw with Naruto in the last chapter as he tried to control himself. Unfortunately, ADHD gets a bad rap because everyone tries to label a kid as ADHD and put them on meds. That's why I say a proper diagnosis. There are a lot of kids out there who are put on medication when they don't need it. The parents just feel that becaue their child resists their rules, that they're ADHD and need to be "fixed". Thus, finding those who really HAVE ADHD and treating them can get muddled in misdiagnoses. (End Rant) As you see in the last few paragraphs, Chouji will be back, and in just over a month. We hope you can wait that long. Shikamaru's immune because he sees himself as an old man in a kids body. If it doesn't help his laziness or his friends, who cares? Ne? Hehehe. Yes, Hinata's dad's a jerk. We all agree on that. He'll be getting a very abrupt wake up call. As for Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari, well you'll have to wait and see.

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Yay! We're glad you're enjoying. Yes, Yashamaru is rather pitiable as a parent. (firmly closes mouths) And you do beam for Naruto when he finally gets a good grade after the hellish week he had. Hope you liked this update as well.

**Vixkill**: Hinata will NOT be suicidal. (I, Mirror, had a kid who would frequently say that he wanted to kill himself, so that he could get attention. I don't feel properly qualified to write that kind of situation, and I don't WANT to either...) **SpiderWench** actually provided some inspiration for what to do with Hinata with a review she gave right as we were writing her arc. We're glad you're enjoying so much. It's nice to know our little edu-tainment story does provide fun and liesure to people.

**Jill BioSkop**: Yes, Temari does have an open field. She does have her issues... Hehe. Yes, Shikamaru does make a good catalyst for Ino. Ino will complain the whole way, of course, but she's finally starting to change for the better. It will still be a long process, though. Don't worry about Hinata, she has a different support network. She just doesn't really realize it yet. Yes, kids who lose their meds can be torturous, both to themselves and others. Thankfully for Naruto, he does have some level of control over himself. There are people out there who don't have any control with out their medication. We're glad you appreciated our explanation of Kiba's mindset. ...It's hard to describe how _different_ the thought processes can be from middle/upper class to poor. About the best I can describe it is that poor kids tend to think in extremes, but even that doesn't seem a sufficient explanation. I guess it's just something you have to see.

**SpiderWench**: Yes, Naruto did need a hug. Now Sakura needs one. Hell, they all need hugs. As for Gaara, we're not telling. Nyah. Temari doesn't have a boyfriend so much as several admirers she can use and string along. Don't worry too much about Shikamaru, he'll be better when Chouji comes back. Keep reading. :)

**Dochii**: Yes, we see you grinning. The same way we're grinning. (blink) Spelling errors? We'll go back and fix that. Thought we caught all of them. Glad you like our foreshadowing. It always helps to know where the story's going, it makes foreshadowing much easier. We had a full outline for this well before we put finger to keyboard. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Sorry about the blackout. We actually had a thunderstorm here the other night. And they're forecasting snow again by the end of the week. Yay, New England. March is always in like a lion and out like a lamb. Oh? You have ADHD? Was our humble attempt and representing accurate? All we know is from the third-person view of students. It'd be interesting to know if we were actually correct or not. Yep, Orochimaru is despicable in the show, isn't he? And as a guidance counselor preaching looking out for one's self and seeking power, it does help kids get a more stable (if lonely) life by relying completely on themselves and controling themselves. Thank you for your compliments. We remain our humble blushing selves.

See you all next week!


	27. Week 26

**Week Twenty-Six**

* * *

Monday dawned with Kakashi arriving early and making a beeline past his room and to the office. From there he went to the faculty room, to the mailroom, and finally to the storeroom in the back of Ibiki's office. No doubt the scarred man's intimidating presence, in combination with his hidden office deterred any students from ever thinking of going into that back storeroom. 

Back there was a small mountain of storage bins, each filled with the necessary materials for the state tests. Today was the first sessions of Math and Reading. Two math, two reading comprehension, vocabulary, social studies, science, and a make up across four days. The first four periods of the day were devoted to the state tests, and the last three periods were business as usual. The Team and all agreed that trying to cover material was ridiculous, and so they decided to make the week about nice, boring, humdrum documentaries and videos paired with worksheets. If the students fell asleep, well, nobody was collecting the worksheets.

Kakashi thrummed through the bins, their large sizes precluding the really tiny labels that had the teacher names on them. Finally finding it, he grabbed his bin and carried it off to his room. Popping the lid open, he filtered through the materials: two boxes of number two pencils, small plastic protractors and rulers, the test booklets, and the answer booklets, and note cards of handy formulae.

The state, well, the nation, was paranoid about cheating. Not that anyone could blame them, the occasional selling of answers online had popped up from time to time. There was also the issue of "fairness." Each student got exactly the same issue rulers, factory designed, same calculators, etc. There were exactly enough tests for the assigned room and no more. As Kakashi flipped through the material, he also found the teacher booklet, providing the instruction for what was expected of him, the dialog he was supposed to recite, etc.

State tests held a mixed opinion for Kakashi. Assess a student? Sure, there was even some benefit to standardized tests because they were, point of fact, standardized. To quote an old college friend, it was a tool, a hammer. You could use it to build a house, or you could use it to smash somebody's head in.

Obviously, politicians preferred the latter.

For one, there was how the data was compared, Asuma's complaint. The seventh grade scores might improve this year, but it had nothing to do with the teachers or the curriculum, it was because a different sampling of students was taking the test; no statistician in their right mind would do something so stupid. Far better to compare this year's eighth grade to last years seventh grade and see if there was improvement. But no, that made too much friggin' sense, Sudoku-sama would say.

There was also the accountability; this was Gai's complaint. If the students failed, then naturally it was because the teachers had failed, say politicians. A kid just getting off the boat from Mexico and not knowing a lick of English being asked to take the test three days later, or a kid who didn't sleep the previous night because s/he was packing and unpacking their bags depending on which parent was screaming at them as the adults argued, kids who were suffering from the flue, all those bad grades were of course the teacher's fault for not teaching the kid properly.

Then there was Adequately Yearly Progress, Kurenai's bone of contention, the combination of Asuma's and Gai's complaints. Comparing the data wrong and not taking into account extenuating circumstances, schools were naturally expected to get better and better every year, eventually reaching 100 percent - meaning every single student would pass and No Child would be Left Behind. It was nice in principle, idyllic even, but just not realistic.

There was also the not-quite recent special-education quirk, i.e. Iruka's complaint. The whole purpose of special education was to modify material to be appropriate for their intellectual or physical or emotional ability. But no, that's not fair, of course, they should get the same test as everyone else and lower the school grade and make things harder for the schools that are struggling to do what they're told.

There was also the "reward" system, meaning many high school students absolutely _had_ to pass the state tests in order to graduate. Schools that failed to conform to the ever increasing AYP would be put on notice, and parents could bus their kids to another school; it was all one big complicated excuse to put smart kids, wealthy (and probably white) kids in one school to ensure they kept their accreditation, while the rest were shuffled around the schools that were closing left and right because of poorer performance. To add insult to injury, a rumor that had started flittering around since January was that some schools and districts had taken to paying a teacher according to how well their students passed the state tests. Half the grade failed last year? Well, you can expect a pay cut now. Everybody got proficient? Bonus for you!

While Kakashi doubted that actually happened, he knew damn well that's where the country was headed. He resolved to go to Canada when that happened.

Having everything he needed, he pulled out his teacher's book and put the lid back on. He was now officially banned from leaving the room without locking his door, so he did so and wandered across the hall to Iruka.

"Another fun week of testing the hell out of students," he said lightly.

"Don't even get me started," Iruka said. "I want to sue it all like Connecticut did, but heaven forbid I should go against the government, we'd all be deemed anti-American or some other load of crap like the Nutmeg state. Remind me again why politics has anything to do with education?"

"Because they want the youth of their nation properly brainwashed instead of free thinking and capable of expressing themselves in all forms!" Gai had entered the room.

"They do say most teachers are democrats," Kakashi added mildly.

There wasn't really much to say, however, because the students were beginning to arrive.

This year, the school was giving the tests by homeroom. Last year they had tried doing it by one class, but certain teachers complained that they got very sick of their A period classes after seeing their faces for six out of eight hours a day.

The kids piled into their homerooms, Kakashi steadfastly if not seriously guarding the bin while checking off names as he went. He had a checklist of the preparation of the students. Friday their team was going to take the kids to a movie, as a reward for their four days of hell, but they did have to earn the right. For every test Kakashi called the kids one by one and asked if they had two number two pencils, scratch paper, something to read, etc; he also checked off if they arrived on time and other behavioral measures, such as listening quietly (like they were supposed to) while he read directions, etc. If they had enough checks, they could go, if not, they stayed in school Friday.

The bell rang, and Shizune came on the speakers, reminding students of the altered schedule, what exams were today, etc.

Because of a recent law passed that students absolutely must have breakfast to boost their brains and get better grades on state tests, the grades were called down one by one for a twenty-minute soiree in the cafeteria. Seventh grade was third on the list, so Kakashi had a little over a half hour with the students as they milled about the room, gossiping and wishing one another luck, etc. Kiba only had one pencil, and Gaara had brought nothing. Several other students were equally unprepared, so Kakashi decided to address the issue.

"I just wanted to remind everyone," he said, calling everyone's attention, "of a few things. For one, you're going to be spending a lot of time together, so you might want to get used to each other. Second, if you don't have seventy-five checks, you're not going to see the movie. That means you'd need twenty checks a day, and some of you are already below quota."

Kiba and Hiroyuki paled considerably when they realized they might not make it to the movie.

"If there are any last minute panic attacks you want to have, now would be the time to have them," he added.

Several students, with over-exaggeration befitting their age, rolled their eyes and groaned pitifully. "Oooh! The pain! How am I going to survive all these tests! The horror!"

Not long after that the seventh grade was called down to breakfast, and Kakashi watched them trail out one after another before closing and locking his room and the bin with the tests in it and trailing after them.

The cafeteria was abuzz with activity as the students got in line, got their excuse of French toast, and piled to the tables to eat and drink orange juice or milk. Kakashi noted that Teams 7 and 10 were sitting together; last time he'd seen the two there'd been a fight, but it was good to know that they got along now. Three tables down Shikamaru and Ino were next to each other, huddled over what looked suspiciously like something electronic. Curious, the Scarecrow got close to see that Shikamaru was showing the blond digital photos of himself and Chouji. Smiling, Kakashi leaned down and said softly, "I'd recommend putting that away before an adult takes it."

Later, he found Iruka and Gai leaning against a wall, talking quietly. He wandered over.

"I thought you should know," the Green Beast was saying, "because I don't know how this will play out. I will be keeping my keen eye on him throughout the tests, but I don't know if I am reading too much into things."

"You? Read too much into something? Really, Gai," Kakashi said lightly before adding, "What's up?"

"Kankuro," Iruka said. "Before everyone split off into their homerooms, he was in tense conversation with our troubled Gaara. Gai says he heard the phrase, 'I'll get you the answers,' from Kankuro, and--"

"And I fear our manipulative youth may try to cheat on the exams, taking answers and giving them or selling them to our dear gothic youth."

Kakashi blinked. "An entrepreneur," he said. "Anybody want to place a bet on how much he'll charge?"

"I don't know," Iruka said, "but he's talking to poor Hinata right now."

The other two teachers turned around to see Hinata by one of the cafeteria windows with Gaara and Kankuro. Kakashi had noted earlier that the girl was distinctly pale, almost as grey as her eyes, and that her hands shook occasionally; the tests really bothered her. She was like that now, only with a slightly desperate look on her face, as if hope was being offered to her at the cost of her right arm. Kankuro was looking particularly smug, and Gaara was as impassive as ever. Behind them, he could see Naruto and Kiba both eyeing the conversation wearily.

Gai walked over and quickly split the trio up, but not before taking Hinata aside to a corner and speaking with her quietly. Kakashi and Iruka watched discretely, but the girl merely shook her head vigorously and went back to her seat. Gai returned and shrugged his shoulders. "She admitted nothing, but I get the impression our timid Hyuga youth is afraid of something; well, more than usual."

"I'll keep an eye on her and Gaara during the tests," Kakashi said.

"I'll see if I can talk to him later," Iruka added, "see if I can get him to open up. Such as it is."

The three nodded and, suddenly very concerned about the tests in their rooms, disappeared from the cafeteria to check. Everything was in order, however, and Kakashi simply waited for the students to arrive. The filtered in about five minutes later, and once everyone was sitting in their assigned seats - the desks noticeably spread out - Kakashi opened up his teacher's book and began reading the directions. Math was first, so he handed out the answer booklets, the rulers and protractors, and the cardboard formulae sheets and the test booklets. At certain points he had to pause and read a piece of dialogue out loud, as every single teacher in the building had to do. Kakashi always had fun with this, putting on a theatrical voice and making expansive gestures to keep the kids remotely attentive. During the many times he came across the phrase "not" in capital letters and underlined, he would deliberately pause before drawing out the word to a ridiculous length. After his first paragraph was read, he told the kids that the game was to catch when he was about to do that and then shout out "not" with him.

Finally, everything was handed out, everything was read, the obligatory examples were droned about, and no one had any questions. Kakashi told them to begin and looked at the clock. It had taken exactly seven minutes. Not bad.

Silence was golden, as the saying went, and it was the only week in the year where Kakashi could hear it in such loud quantities. He sat at his front desk, his beloved book open, and proceeded to catch up on his reading - but not without glancing up and Hinata and Gaara every thirty seconds. They worked diligently; as did everyone else, and the English teacher saw no signs of cheating. That didn't stop him from checking though, sometimes it only took a few seconds for something catastrophic to happen, and he didn't particularly relish the idea of his beautiful silence being ruined for it.

Sakura finished first, the brightest mind in his homeroom, and stretched her arms over her head before pulling out a romance novel and flipping it open. Twenty minutes later another student finished, and one by one the students put down their pencils and pulled out a book, or pulled out a sketchbook to doodle, or just put their head down on the desk, like Gaara did.

Hinata was the last to finish, and her lips were nearly as pale as her skin when she finally did.

With everyone done, Kakashi picked his three students, Sakura, Kiba, and Hiroyuki, to go down to the cafeteria to get the snacks. They returned with a trey of more orange juice and oatmeal cookies. The Scarecrow grabbed himself a cookie and watched as the students talked quietly (or not so quietly) amongst themselves. Some of the girls had started a game of hangman on the board while the boys - with Kakashi halting permission and constant watching, lightly jogged around the room to expend the pent up energy they had from the test. Afterward, he had his homeroom get up and guided them through some simple stretches. Some didn't participate, but those that did looked better for it.

When the clock hit eleven, he started the second exam, and again he watched as the students took the test. Half an hour in, he blinked when he realized that Hinata was wiping her eyes, rubbing her sleeve vigorously over them before releasing a quiet sniffle.

Shocked, he got up quietly and walked over to her. Several students watched him, but he paid no mind as he crouched down and looked up to the grey eyes girl. She shrank back when she saw him, wiping her eyes even more furiously and hiding her face in her sleeves.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" he asked in a tightly controlled voice, reaching only her ears.

She shook her head almost violently, frowning and struggling to control herself. "I need to finish the test," she said, determination peaking through her voice. It was the first time he'd ever heard it from her, and he suddenly smiled very warmly before standing back up and going back to his desk.

The halls were almost explosive as the students piled out after the exams, shouting and screaming and bumping and blindly running over each other as they ran full tilt to the next class. Kakashi nimbly navigated his way through it, around the corner and into Asuma's room. Kurenai was nowhere to be seen, off to buy lunch since they wouldn't get the chance Friday. "How was it?" he asked, sitting at his usual place.

"I watched Kankuro the entire time," Gai replied, giving a victorious grin. "And I will continue to do so as the week progresses!" Sobering, he continued. "He was very thorough in doing his work out on scratch paper in the math section, but at the end of the test I told them all to throw the papers away. Kankuro tried to pocket it, and I happily informed him that pockets were no place for garbage and he was forced to properly throw it away. After that I put the can behind my desk, and he had no access to it."

"So he might have been trying to do something," Iruka said, writing it all down as always.

"We don't know for sure, though," Asuma added. "We'd have to see him give the answers to someone, or something along those lines."

"Does he know you're watching him?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, most definitely," Gai said. "But I care not! I will do my duty as a brave teacher of these youth, regardless of their opinion of me I will guard their futures and ensure they are washed behind their ears!!"

Everyone stared at Gai as he began to laugh, very close to maniacally.

Shrugging, Kakashi shared his observations. "Gaara didn't really do much, but that's to be expected of him. Hinata, though started crying during the second exam."

"Poor girl," Iruka said with great empathy. "She must be stressed out of her mind over these tests."

"She's determined to see them through though," Kakashi said. "I think the idea of cheating, if that's what they were talking about this morning, got her ire up. I didn't even know that she _had_ ire until now. She was steadfastly determined to see the tests through." He grinned. "I was proud of her."

"Good," Asuma said. "We need some good news."

Iruka sighed. "I'm still worried about her, though. The seed's been planted now."

"Please," the math teacher said, wincing, "Don't be a killjoy."

* * *

The next three days followed the same formula: extended homeroom, breakfast, test, snack, test, and off to class. During Team Thursday they tallied up the checklists to see who could and couldn't go, and compared them to the list (that everyone was surprised to get) of students that weren't allowed at the theatre for any reason. 

"What the hell did these kids do to get themselves banned from a _theatre_?" Iruka exclaimed.

"I know _I_ certainly don't want to know," Asuma relied.

So when Friday dawned, the students again reported to homeroom, waited for a bit, and again assembled at the cafeteria, not for breakfast, however, but to line up for the buses, hand in last minute permission slips, make sure they had money for popcorn and soda, and finally file through the double doors outside and into the crisp morning air and, after a headcount, onto the buses.

Riding the bus, as an adult, was always a nightmare. Kakashi half stood in his seat up front and glared out over the two rows of students as they shouted at each other over the roar of the engine, ran up and down the aisle, changed seats, and in some cases tried to kiss. He had a headache by the time they got onto the highway and it was splitting when the finally reached the theatre. Iruka and Kurenai, he noted, were also holding their heads in agony.

Asuma lead the way, making the students all line up by the concession stand before giving the okay to start making orders. The movie theatre, having prepared for the field trip, already had a stack of snacks and foodstuffs lined up so all a child had to do was pick what they wanted and then pay at the register. Despite this, with over two hundred students to buy snacks, it took almost forty-five minutes before everyone had what they wanted. Kakashi, with his bar of chocolate and his bottle of water, was one of the last to go into the theatre.

The teachers all gathered together for one last huddle. "Just remember," he said to Kurenai, "to keep an eye out for the couples. More than one or two of them may try to make out in a nice dark cavern like this."

She made a face. "Ew."

"And there's also the cell phones; they're still under school rules, so if you see a dull glow, take it without argument. Afterward, we want to make sure that they clean up after themselves."

They all nodded and disappeared amongst the seats. There were barely any left now, and Kakashi finally found a spare chair, coincidentally (or not, as he liked to think) next to his beloved Team 7.

The lights dimmed, the movie started, and he was almost immediately out of his seat and grabbing a cell-phone, three rows down. After grabbing his third on that first tour, the word passed quickly to hide the little devices, and Kakashi was able to sit down and ask Sasuke what he'd missed. Sitting on the edge of the row as he was, he frequently got up and made a tour of the cavernous room. The movie was bright and cheery enough that he could make out what he needed to, and he was generally pleased that the kids were behaving themselves.

After forty-five minutes or so, he settled down and enjoyed himself, feeling his body finally relax. Next week was back to normal, but for now he just reveled in the giant faces on the screen.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Meh. This chapter is boring, but then state tests are boring. cough We didn't express our opinions_too_ loudly, did we? It's hard not to get into full rant mode when talking about something like this, and we fought really hard to keep it toned down. 

And yes, we've come across students who were banned from movie theaters before. And yes, Connecticut sued to get the funding Bush promised for NCLB and was called unpatriotic for it.

Next chapter's going to be another true story nightmare, and hopefully won't be too painful to write. Hope you enjoyed.

**PnkRockNinja101**: Well, Sakura has her team, and they're not leaving her. As always, we're glad you like so much.

**Jill BioSkop**: Yes, they're 12. And yet, we see it whenever we go into a middle school to sub. Maybe not to the degree we described, but its there. I _really_ don't want to think about what they'd do in private without a crowd. Whether Sasuke acts or not is unknown, but he strikes me as the type to wait for it to happen before starting (haltingly) to share. However, since Sakura's mom won't die, that won't happen here. But he was preparing, in his own, brooding way. We agree, Team 1 is helping Gaara out as much as they can, in their own childish, misguided way. The question is if it will work or not. Do teachers change lesson plans to help students or is it a Kakashi thing? A bit of both. Teachers really do change lesson plans at the drop of a hat if the situation calls for it, but usually the situation is a little more grave and far reaching, like a fight in the halls, September 11, things along that nature. What Kakashi did was for a single student, and as such, a bit more Kakashi in nature. He's cool like that. Gomen for the typos, the whole family had a cold last weekend. We'll get around to fixing them eventually. Things are a little too busy right now for that.

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Alas, no, the Sand trio aren't siblings in this fic. Admittedly, we only found out about they're being siblings online, and we thought it was sort of an adoptive thing after Naruto knocked some sense into Gaara. (ie, Teammates that considered each other family.) It was another reviewer (whose name escapes us at the moment) who pointed out that they really _are_ siblings in the show. Eep. For this story, they are of no relation.

**Dochii**: Oh yes, we're rather obsessive with outlines. We'll write scenes down during conception and planning, but the full story isn't started until there's a solid outline. You're not horrible for wanting a little drama in the story. As it is, the drama is muted because Kakashi sees it all from third person, so we may not be quite filling the need. We're glad to see that Chouji's eventual return makes you happy. He comes back during a _very_ active week. (knowing smile)

**Sarimia**: We hope the transfer goes well for you and that you get a decent American public school. No, we're not from Canada. We live in southern New England. But we get enough Canadian weather systems to sympathize. And be glad you don't know anyone who's dying or who has been through a death scar. I don't really wish that on anyone.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Well, Temari is far from empty-headed (more like cunning). Good for her, as it helps with her team. How she uses her cunning, however... Thank you, it's good to know that a thrid-person view can be accurate. It can be really hard to write about something you have no experience in (as evidenced by the MANY high school fics out there, hence our little edu-tainment story here...), and there are parts where we worry about our inaccuracies. Hinata did well this chapter, ne?

**Simply Manialoll**: We're glad nothing is confusing. We sometimes have so many plates spinning that we know and understand because we know what's coming that we're not sure if we confuse the reader who doesn't know what's coming down the pike. It also makes it difficult trying to determine whether the next arc will be a surprise or not and if the hints we've dropped are to obvious or subtle. And yes, teachers really do do all this. The routine-y stuff you notice is standard to all schools but some of the more dramatic elements will be seen more in lower schools. If you don't see this in a middle-class school there are a few reasons for it. 1.) The students aren't in so desparate need. They have parents and other support systems. In poorer schools, the parents are working and the kids don't have as many people to turn to, leaving teachers as the main support system. 2.) In poor schools, problems tend to be very much out in the open. In "better" schools, it's far more likely to be rumor or handled behind the scenes. I substitute at a middle-class school, and while some kids don't have the issues of this story, there are problem students with problem homes that teachers discuss and try to help the best they can. But without the parents, it's an uphill battle. 3.) You're seeing Kakashi shine because it's from his point of view and you can see everything the teachers are doing. I can bet that there are students in the grade who don't have a clue of half of what's going on or don't know what the teachers are doing to fix it. That's one of the reasons behind this (not-so) little story of ours. Aside from being a type of therapy, there are SO MANY high school fics out there that NEVER do the teachers properly. This is our answer to that, as teachers who know what teachers do. Hopefully, people who read this will have a better understanding when they get to their own high school fics. (That wasn't too much of a rant...was it?)

Thank you again, and see you all next week. Gai's arc.


	28. Week 27

**March: Week Twenty-Seven**

* * *

Kakashi walked in Monday feeling refreshed and reenergized. With the state tests the previous week, it was almost like another vacation because of the quiet. Plus, he didn't have any major assignments to grade with the afternoons of the previous week being toned down due to the intensive testing in the mornings. So the Scarecrow's weekend had been a rare foray into being the ultimate lazy. He'd slept most of the weekend away, letting various plans for the week filter in the back of his mind while he recreated and did nothing mentally or physically strenuous. So Monday dawned bright and early with Kakashi walking with a distinctive bounce in his step.

Monday was relatively average for a Monday. Classes went back to normal and the students groaned about having to do work in class again. About the only item of note was that Gai mentioned that Kankuro might still be up to his selling answers routine, especially since he had the Green Beast's class first and could see any tests before the rest of the student body.

Now Kakashi knew that there was always a certain amount of sharing about tests or quizzes as the day went on. Asuma would gripe about how students in his last period would always seem to know about certain questions on the test, even if they still had no clue how to solve the problem. Students would often copy each other's homework, thus preventing any actual learning, but no matter how much stomping he and his team did, it was a fact of life. But out and out cheating, copying answers down and then sharing them with those who hadn't had the test yet, hadn't happened.

When he'd heard about this, the English teacher had suggested that everyone start keeping a closer eye on the little manipulator. However, nothing came of it until Wednesday. And Wednesday turned out to be a severely long day.

It dawned cloudy and drizzly, hardly the "out like a lamb" that March was always rumored to be. During first period, the Scarecrow had stepped out briefly to make some extra copies he hadn't had a chance to do the previous evening, leaving the para to go over the homework, which would take a good ten or fifteen minutes. Besides, it was first period. They were all still half asleep and wouldn't be much a problem. It was a docile class anyway.

He had just turned the corner into his hall, his room down at the other end (since the teacher's copier was at the other end of the rectangle), when he'd heard Gai's clear voice echoing down the hall.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

Naturally, Kakashi quickened his step.

Before he arrived, Gai's voice bellowed, "YOU GO TO EBISU-SENSEI THIS INSTANT!"

Halfway down the hall, the English teacher watched Kankuro, looking sullen, exit Gai's room and shuffle around the corner heading to the office. Still concerned, (since though the Green Beast could roar very well, the English teacher _rarely_ heard that volume) Kakashi poked his head in across the hall. He noted that Iruka was absent, since the special education teacher was supposed to be with Gai first period, and that there was an unnatural silence across the room. The social studies teacher was currently leaning down with Gaara, quietly discussing what looked like a worksheet. Gai glanced up and offered his Nice Guy smile before turning back to the moody redhead.

Kakashi nodded, returned across the hall to his room, expecting an interesting story when E Period came around.

* * *

The Scarecrow didn't make it to team time before hearing rumblings, however. When C Period rolled around, Kakashi got a call from Ebisu to come down and see him. Curious and with a slight dread for unknown reasons seeping down his spine, he turned off his lights, shut his door, and meandered around the corner and down the hall to the office.

The "office" was it's own contained little world, in many ways very separate from the school. The door you entered through was part of a half-glass wall, giving Shizune and the other secretaries a clear view of the hall and whoever was walking by. Under the windows was a bench where Kakashi recognized several troublemakers from the seventh and eight grade (mostly the seventh), waiting for Ebisu to come forward and address them. Like with the health center, there was a large counter blocking off non-personal from coming around. Behind it was Shizune's desk and three other desks for the secretaries who worked for the school. Hidden behind a filing cabinet was a hall which held several offices, from Sandaime's, to Ebisu's, the school's three social workers, the school psychologist, the school counselor, and a door at the end that led into the guidance department and its little world.

Sandaime had a nice corner office that had plenty of room and across the hall was Ebisu's windowless room, the way the vice principal preferred it. The door was closed and Kakashi heard Ebisu's dulcet tones as he addressed whatever student he was dealing with. He knocked briefly, letting Ebisu know he was there.

Within moments, Gaara was being a given a pass from Ebisu to head back to class while the English teacher was ushered in and taking the seat Gaara had just vacated.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked, uncertain why he had been called down.

Ebisu let out a long sigh, pushing up his glasses. "You were in Gai's classroom this morning?"

The Scarecrow raised a hidden eyebrow. "For all of ten seconds. Why?"

"I need you to tell me what prompted you to go into his room and everything you saw and heard."

Now Kakashi was worried. With his usual clarity, he repeated everything verbatim, since it wasn't much, and offered his usual observations and thoughts on everything he saw.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Ebisu just sighed. "Why couldn't there have been another adult in the room?" he mumbled. "Thanks, you can get back to class now."

Not liking the dismissal, Kakashi frowned and leaned forward. "Ebisu, what's this all about? What happened?"

The vice principal said nothing, stood, and opened the door.

Kakashi was still frowning as he left and made a beeline for Shizune to see what she could provide. While she looked around nervously, the Scarecrow noted that a lot of the seventh graders he saw on the bench had been in Gai's first period, and not all of them were the usual problems.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi," Shizune apologized again. "I really don't think it's my place to say."

Nodding, the Scarecrow started his own fact-finding mission. First stop: Gai.

"Ah, Kakashi, my eternal rival. What brings you to my humble room during our period for preparing for our youthful charges?"

The Green Beast seemed unconcerned, and even unknowledgeable of what was going on.

"Gai," Kakashi asked with similar non-concern. "What happened this morning? Why did you send Kankuro out?"

Gai smiled a sort of wry smile that still flashed far too brightly to be completely human. "I see I have roused your curiosity, a difficult feat for any other than a youthful entity. I assure you I had complete control of the situation, despite my increased volume.

"My classes are having a quiz today, and as per your request, I've been keeping a steady eye on our youthful entrepreneur. I noticed that he was writing on his arm, and when I looked, he was copying down the answers he was giving on his quiz to his very flesh for selling between classes. I spoke to him about it and he proceeded to give me the silent treatment. After separating him from his classmates by putting him in a corner," he gestured to a desk he had facing the wall, "I returned to circulating around the youth surrounding me."

Kakashi listened intently while looking impassive.

"I had just finished helping Shiori understand a question when I turned and saw Kankuro with a pair of scissors in hand ready to throw them at an unsuspecting fellow student. I sensed impending flight of the scissors and yelled at him." Which would explain why Gai's voice echoed down the hall. It would take something like the endangering of a student, even through another student's stupidity, to get Gai to raise his volume so much.

The Green Beast snorted. "While sad, it is unsurprising that Kankuro argued that he hadn't done anything wrong. I sent him out."

"Did Kankuro say anything else?"

"No, I do not believe so." Gai hesitated, striking a thoughtful pose. "No, he didn't say anything else. With our little puppet master gone, I went back to helping the students and was with our sullen Gaara when you checked in." The social studies teacher looked over to the English teacher, raising a busy eyebrow.

"It is unlike you, my rival, to come seeking information unless you are searching for facts."

The Scarecrow nodded. "Something's caught Ebisu's attention about the incident. I was just called down to repeat everything I knew."

"Haha!" Gai leaned back, letting out a loud guffaw. "Kakashi, I can see your concern. While I appreciate it, I assure you, all is well. Now certainly, you have work to be doing this period?"

Kakashi continued to frown, but saw the quizzes that Gai was grading. The Green Beast had been honest and forthcoming, as was his code, so Kakashi went to his next source of information. He went next door to talk to Iruka.

"Sorry, Kakashi," the special education teacher said, "I was in a PPT A Period with Shikamaru's dad."

Disgruntled, the Scarecrow returned to his room, not knowing where to go next aside from listening to students, his best source of gossip. He looked at his phone and saw a message. Thinking it was a parent; he dialed in.

Surprised, Kakashi's sinking further got even worse as he rushed out of his room and down to the Health Center. Tsunade was at the front desk, writing out a pass to Li, who had been on crutches for the past few weeks.

"Greetings, Kakashi-sensei!" Li bowed.

"Hello, Li. When will you be getting off of those crutches?"

The mini-Gai smiled, raising his fist in determination. "The doctors say that my ankle is doing well and that my cast will be removed this weekend! I start physical therapy next week! This is most wondrous news!"

A small smile slid onto Kakashi's face. "Good for you," he said. "So you'll be back to running cross-country soon?"

Giant tears welled in Li's eyes. "Alas! I am uncertain as to if I will be back to form by next fall or not! One of my greatest wishes is to be on the cross-country team at the high school next year, but I do not know if my training will be sufficient to regain my ability! I do not wish to disappoint Coach Gai-sensei by being unable to be on the high school team!"

"Don't worry, Li. Talk to Gai-sensei. I'm sure if he learns about your physical therapy, he might be able to offer some suggestions on how to get back up to par. Just remember to not exceed whatever Gai tells you. You need time to heal, remember."

"Yes! Kakashi-sensei!"

"Here's your pass, now get going," Tsunade growled, shoving the small, paper rectangle into Li's hand.

"I will see Coach Gai-sensei right now!"

"You have class to get to," Tsunade snapped. "Now get going."

"Yes! Tsunade-sama!"

With a swift swinging gate, Li sped out of the Health Center. With the mini-Gai gone, the Scarecrow followed Tsunade to her small office. She sat heavily, stretched, and rubbed her eyes.

"This is going to be a fucking mess," she growled.

"Is that message true?"

"Yes. Ebisu came in A Period with Kankuro in tow to show me the kid's arm. The arm was red and bleeding in some spots, showing recent signs of, basically, getting stabbed with a pencil or pen, maybe scissors. The little kid was claiming that Gai did it."

"'Fucking mess' is too nice a phrase," Kakashi frowned, sinking into a chair across from the nurse, feeling like he was in a cold, dark place. This was going to be worse than the Hyuga going after the English teacher. He just hoped that the local news vultures didn't get their hands on this. They'd already had enough bad press lately. "And our illustrious vice principal hasn't spoken to Gai yet."

"Idiot."

"The only other witnesses were the students."

"Even better."

"Have you noticed how this year is royally fucked up?"

"Maybe just a little."

Kakashi sighed before standing up. He had a friend to warn of impending doom.

* * *

He got back to Gai's room just as SSR was starting and he could already hear the rumors in the hall about the Green Beast unleashing its claws on a defenseless student first period. Many students seemed unsurprised, reciting stories on how Gai was always screaming at their class and how he seemed to enjoy getting certain students in trouble. A few, like Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, etc, disagreed strongly, saying that the social studies teacher would never do such a thing. Proponents of the Gai-hitting countered with detailed evaluations of Gai's exuberant behavior, his unnatural fondness for "youth", and his never-ending proclamations of various shapes and sizes.

Rumor mill aside, what really had Kakashi worried was that a substitute was in Gai's room. That mean that Ebisu was talking to the social studies teacher, and Gai was getting blindsided. The students were naturally having a field day with the Green Beast's sudden disappearance. The thoughts varied from something as mundane as he went home sick like a student would, to he was suspended, to he was arrested.

Things just kept getting better and better.

With SSR having already started, Kakashi entered his room and sat at his desk, pondering his next move. He didn't know Gai's class rosters off the top of his head, and even if he were to bounce around and start interviewing, he wouldn't get anything more than Ebisu would. It was a bad conundrum. Anything he could think of required that he wait, and Gai didn't necessarily have that time. For all Kakashi knew, Gai could be being fired at this very moment.

So he just sat there, through SSR, pondering his options. Sakura and Sasuke would glance back at him from time to time, and Naruto did as well once he joined halfway through the period. He sent out an email to the rest of his team, hoping that they might know something or have any ideas, but everything Kakashi thought of was far too drastic.

When the students were finally off to their E Period classes, the Scarecrow ignored his lunch and instead went to Gai's room. Seeing he wasn't there and the sub had disappeared to cover another class, Kakashi turned the corner and headed down to the office. Shizune told him that Gai was still talking with Ebisu when,

"I AM A DEFENDER AND EDUCATOR OF YOUTH! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST OTHERWISE?"

That wasn't going to help Gai's case.

Breezing pass a worried-looking Shizune, Kakashi went right to Ebisu's door, didn't bother to knock, and barged right in.

Inside, Gai was standing, shaking with anger and rage, his fists clenching an unclenching, and his head down with a low growl emanating from deep within his chest. Across the desk, Ebisu was also standing, red-faced as he calmly adjusted his glasses. The tension in the room was tangible, and Kakashi could feel the sparks going on under both men's skins. To avoid any direct bloodshed, the English teacher reached out and put a hand on Gai's shoulder.

"If you don't mind, Ebisu, we're running late for our Team Time. I'd also like to talk to you later about a few things, if that's all right. For now, we'll be going."

It took a very firm tug and yank to get Gai moving, but Ebisu said nothing, just sat back down. "Students outside," Kakashi pitched his voice to his friend. "Calm face."

Gai said nothing, his fists still shaking at his side, but with a deep breath, he put on what was meant to be a placid face. Instead, it came off as looking annoyed and vaguely disgusted, but Kakashi wasn't going to argue the finer points of masking feelings from students. They walked side by side all the way to Asuma's room in complete silence, where the math teacher was slurping noodles out of a cup of instant ramen.

When Go-sama saw who had entered his room, he said nothing, locking the door behind them. Opening up a cabinet, he pulled out a few cushy pillows reserved for emergency purposes and set them up on a chair that Kakashi all but shoved Gai onto. With Gai still stewing, Asuma pulled out two other cups of ramen, poured some boiled water from his coffee pot into the cups and put them in microwave.

With steaming college-food in hand, the three sat in a circle around Asuma's desk as the Green Beast fought down his ferocity. Kakashi had _never_ seen Gai worked up like this before. Sure, he'd seen his friend get angry or frustrated with the kids, but that came with the job. Gai was always in earnest with whatever he was doing or feeling, but this level of sheer fury was new and unknown for Kakashi.

It made the English teacher realize, in a sad way, that while Gai was his friend, Kakashi didn't know how to be a friend to Gai. He maintained the rivalry, joined the Green Beast for Thanksgiving, and shared a miniscule part of his burdens with the social studies teacher. But he'd never really reciprocated. He could notice if something was troubling Gai (or any other member of his team) and he'd do what he could to help solve the problem, but he never dealt with the emotional fallout that could occur.

Kakashi sucked as a friend.

The social studies teacher finally stirred from his simmering and inhaled the ramen in almost one whole gulp. He finally let out a long sigh that ended in a faint angry growl.

"At least our esteemed vice-principal does not waste time."

"What happened?" Asuma asked.

"I was called down at the end of our period of preparation where I met with not only our _beloved_ vice principal, but a representative of DCF."

"That's it? No union representative?"

Gai gave an ironic grin. "None. Ebisu clearly felt that speed was the better part of dealing with the situation, being a mandated reporter and all."

"Bastard."

"The interview involved the DCF asking leading questions to ascertain if I was the result of Kankuro's injuries or not. Since I knew nothing of what they were speaking, I was quite confused."

And made a number of statements that could be misinterpreted no doubt. Kakashi's frown deepened.

"Since I did not know what they were speaking of, I gave an unguarded answer to every question. When I finally started to understand that Kankuro had reported that I'd struck him repeatedly with something, I retreated in my statements and rephrased many things." Gai gave a snort. "But my attempts came too late. I fear that I may not stay at this school for very long." He let out a sob before slamming his palms to his eyes and leaning forward with great fat tears leaking out from his eyes.

Now Kakashi had seen Gai cry a great many times. Especially last year when Gai's best student Li would continuously do something to move the Green Beast with overwhelming emotion. There was the time three years ago at Thanksgiving when a family member had told Gai that his cousin had passed away oversees and when the social studies teacher heard a particularly awful story from the lives of his students.

But this crying was different. All previous times involved the Green Beast being concerned for others. These tears were because Gai was concerned about his future. A degree in history didn't lend itself to jobs and if DCF put this on a permanent record, he'd never work as a teacher again. Not with children, Gai's great love. These were tears of anguish and concern. All teachers have had a student hate them at some point in their careers, but it took a very rare child to actually go about and try to get a teacher in trouble. At most they'd grumble and groan to their friends and family and some, like the Hyuga would try and do something. But Kankuro had deliberately harmed himself in order to try and ensure that the Green Beast was fired.

Kakashi had dealt with that level of hate before. War always intensified various feelings, and the Scarecrow had dealt with his own share of shit oversees, but Gai had never been on foreign soil. He'd never had somebody hate him for just being who he was. And Gai, who always had such hope for the future and did everything he could to nurture the next generation, had a student deliberately seek to do him harm in the worst sort of betrayal.

As Gai let his tears flow, choked wails ripping from his throat, Asuma leaned over and patted the Green Beast's back. Kakashi had never been a touchy-feely type, and he doubted that Gai would appreciate any similar gesture that he could try, so he just sat there, radiating the usual presence of comfort that he did with the students.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door that sounded incredibly insistent. The Scarecrow glanced at the clock and realized that they'd locked out Iruka and Kurenai. He glanced out of the corner of his newer eye, unaware of when he'd raised his headband, and assessed his teammate. Gai was still sobbing uncontrollably, but he looked a tad more composed.

Kakashi hesitated. He knew that he himself would never let himself expose that much feeling to anyone, but the social studies teacher wasn't him. Would he be receptive to his younger colleagues? Only one way to find out.

When Kurenai entered the room and saw Gai, she ran right over to him and engulfed him in a tight, comforting embrace. Iruka stood at the door as Kakashi closed it behind him, color draining from his face. "Wha-what-What happened?"

"Kankuro happened." Kakashi explained in quiet precise tones everything he knew, which neither of them had heard yet.

Needless to say, the overall opinion of Ebisu was less than friendly.

"You should have had our union rep there," Asuma growled with a smoker's growl. "That's part of what the union is for, to cover our asses when this kind of shit happens. I'll make sure Kankuro has nothing but hell from me last period."

"I see him next," Kakashi said, "but I don't think we can address him until we've cleared Gai's name."

"There's no way they'd take Kankuro's word about all this, is there?" Kurenai asked. "I mean; Gai is a well established teacher who's been here for years! He's got several generations of students who've had him and loved him! Kankuro has a history for stirring up trouble!"

"But he's very rarely caught," Iruka replied grimly. "He doesn't have much of a paper trail of causing the trouble he does. Sure, he got a few days in ISS for the food fight he started back in, what was it, November? December? That's a far cry from self-mutilation. Without that kind of history and if the students are agreeing, then DCF isn't going to have a strong case."

"But he _didn't_ do it!" Kurenai screeched. "We all know it!"

"So does Ebisu," Kakashi interjected. "But in situations like this, his hands are tied because he goes by the book with absolutely no variations."

"But he should have had a union rep! Ebisu knows better than that!" Asuma snorted. "Hell of a year we're having."

Gai, who had been sobbing despondently suddenly stood tall, tears still streaming down his face. "I will _not_ be deterred! I am an educator of youth and I will not stop in my sacred job! I will keep teaching those who are willing to learn and forcing the unwilling to learn! I will not stop in my endeavor to ensure that the next generation will be smarter and have an easier life than my parents had! I will keep giving them my wisdom, whether they listen or not! I WILL KEEP TEACHING!"

Wiping away tears, he turned to his stunned teammates and gave a thumbs-up with a watery, but still shiny smile. "I thank all of you for the worry and concern you have demonstrated. It touches me beyond any measure yet known to man. But I will persevere!"

"Well then," Kakashi smiled. "I think I know how we might be able to turn things around."

* * *

The following morning, Kakashi wasn't found in his room for A Period. Instead, he was across the hall in Gai's room with Iruka, Ebisu, and a special guest sitting quietly in the back, unnoticed by the students. Gai had, reluctantly, agreed to stay home that day, and the substitute was across the hall, covering Kakashi's class for the moment. In the middle of the room, in his usual assigned seat, was Kankuro, in short sleeves to show the bandages that were on his arm.

"Alright class," Kakashi started, "we would like to clear up a few things about what happened yesterday."

Several students turned to Kankuro and his displayed bandaging.

"Since Gai-sensei isn't here, it is only fair if his accuser isn't here either. Kankuro, please step out to my room and wait there."

The boy frowned, but stood, making a show of being cautions with his arm, and left the room. To be extra certain, Kakashi followed, shut the door to his room, and shut Gai's door as well, ensuring that the little sneak wouldn't try and influence anything like he normally would.

"Here's what we're going to do," Ebisu said as Kakashi returned and stood by the door. "I've spoken with all of you and got a somewhat garbled idea of what happened yesterday. I'd like all of you to clarify today."

"This is pointless," Gaara grumbled from his seat in the corner.

"Yeah," Takato shouted. "You're just taking a teacher's word over a student. Gai went nuts yesterday!"

"Please define 'went nuts'," Ebisu stated. "What did you see and hear?"

And thus the interview process began again. All the students agreed that Gai shouting at the top of his lungs was scary, sudden, and over the top. All the students agreed that Gai had been very angry with Kankuro and that Gai had ruined their classmate's arm. Behind them all, the special guest, the DCF representative from the previous day, sat taking notes.

The students were asked about the classroom environment, if they'd ever felt threatened or unsafe. The answer for that was unclear until Ebisu asked if they'd ever felt that they were in danger of being physically harmed. The class all agreed that they'd never felt that way. The worst fear they had was Gai shouting at them, usually when someone was doing something wrong; such as that awful day when the substitute was there at the beginning of the year.

Finally, Kakashi noted the time and stepped forward. "Did any of you _see_ Gai put his hands on Kankuro?"

Nobody said a word until Takato piped up again.

"He must have. You saw Kankuro's arm."

"But did any of you _see_ it?"

Silence.

"Kankuro was in short sleeves yesterday, if I recall correctly. Did any of you see him holding his arm, or bleeding as he left the room?"

Silence.

"So none of you saw Gai lay a finger on Kankuro."

A few students shook their heads.

Kakashi turned to Ebisu. "I think that should clarify things just fine."

"Oh, it does," the vice principal replied, looking vaguely across the hall to Kakashi's shut door.

The English teacher returned to his room and kicked the sub and Kankuro back across the hall. Or rather, the sub returned to Gai's room. Kankuro was escorted down to the office with the DCF person and Ebisu. Letting the para finish up class, Kakashi sat at his computer and sent an email to Gai, who was waiting at his computer back home.

There was still a sour taste in the Scarecrow's mouth in regards to Ebisu's botched handling of the situation. Ebisu was a good vice principal, but he sucked when it came to dealing with the faculty. He'd already talked to the union rep about what had happened to Gai after school the previous day, and Kakashi knew that the union was probably going to go to Sandaime about the severe breech of contract. But for now, the English teacher reveled in getting Kankuro in trouble and redeeming Gai's name.

He could deal with the rest later.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Don't ask about the original two stories that fused into this chapter. It's too painful. Both of us cry when reading this chapter.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: We're guessing your opinion of Kankuro probably changed with this chapter, ne? Different schools can do different things to "celebrate" the end of testing. At a middle school where I (Mirror) sub, they had their annual teacher-v-student basketball game. Teachers woulda won if we'd had the fourth quarter. It's not that we don't like high school fics. It's just VERY hard to find one that we don't pull hair with. We'll read just about anything, but high school fics seem littered with inaccuracies. We never fail to notice how the teachers in high school fics are oblivious, just pair students randomly for the sake of the story, or some other things that just don't happen. Teachers are trained observers in order to keep classroom management, and whenever there's group work, or partners, there is a specific reason for putting students together. For this story of ours, Kakashi has explained, in detail, at various points why he grouped the teams the way they are. Team 7 wasn't formed because we wanted to randomly put them together like they are in the anime, there are pedagogical reasons behind it. The same for all the other teams. For us, as educators, we're putting in the details that we DON'T see in high school fics. Hopefully, authors will notice and incorporate. Probably not, but we can dream.

**Jill BioSkop**: Good to know our preaching about state tests was clear and not too loud. (Granted, most of you as readers are probably students and as such, we're preaching to the choir, but anyway...) Gai's "maniacal" laughter was part release of tension with the tests, and part to make his teammates smile. Plus, even though he _is_ a serious character, he can go out there with outrageous behavior. Besides, after what happens to him here, he needed a little sunshine before the storm dumped itself on him.

**Sarimia**: Don't worry, we still update weekly. Actually, we wouldn't mind having either just snow or just rain. It's the mixing of the two that's getting annoying. Thankfully, it's been mainly rain this week, but I'm very glad to see sunlight outside my window at the moment. I was getting sick of "dull", "dreary", and "damp". We hope this chapter, which is very close to us so we're too biased, goes under your "awesome work" category.

**BookPrincess1**: Yatta! A new reader! (nods vigorously) Yes, we were going for a "real school" feel for the story. As teachers, we have a bit more knowledge about it than the average writer, and it became something of an edu-tainment story to educate readers on how schools run. Maybe it can help generate better high-school-fanfiction. If nothing else, we had fun (and theraputic) moments aplenty when writing this sucker. Ah, another New Englander. As our da says, "Welcome to New England. If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." No, none of our students have ever been stuck on a bus that long, but at the beginning of this week, a bus was in a car accident. I watched the princpal come in, find out the situation, demand for an ambulance to be sent to ensure the students were okay (we hadn't seen one leave yet from across the street), and run out the door. State tests, as we preached in the last chapter, have their uses. They provide data. But NOBODY uses them correctly. Add the "high stakes" of pass-or-don't-graduate, and the system just sucks for everyone all around. We're glad you feel everyone is in character. Some, (we're looking at you, Sasuke) are hard enough to figure out for a standard Naruto fic, let alone an AU like this.

**BlackRoseofKonoha**: We don't know what movie they go to see. We did that on purpose. We don't want this little story of ours dated, we want it to be timeless. Like, you can stumble on it, say, five years from now, and still have it pertain to the here and now instead of saying, "Oh, it's from back then," like we've come across with other stories here on ff . net. About all we know about the movie is that it would be rated PG. Probably a big-blockbuster of some kind.

**FuyuKoneko**: Yatta again! Another new reader! (gushes) In a see of look-alike-fics, we're glad you found this one original and sweet. That makes us smile. Yes, teachers do a lot for kids, and it's often unnoticed. If it made you look back and realize how nice and caring someone was, we're glad and humbled. Hn, "not as exciting". That's probably because a MAJORITY of this story takes place off screen, and as such, Kakashi is dealing more with aftermaths than the actuall drama sections. However, that is true to reality. As much as it would be nice to conveniently be there for all the big stuff that happens, that's actually rarely the case. We very deliberatley created schedules for the Naruto characters so that they weren't all in the same class together, aside from Kakashi's F Period. They're spread out. So that when Kiba goes into convulsions, Kakashi has to dig up Shino, or how Sakura had several classes without Naruto or Sasuke to watch out for her when she was being bullied. It never ceases to amaze me how all the important stuff in high school fics happens in one particular class where everyone is gathered. Life doesn't happen that way. This edu-tainment story of ours was ment to be closer to how reality works. Sasuke gets abused by his brother, but even though the signs are there, you're still shocked when you find out. If you see a kid with a bruise of a band-aide, especially a kid who's active in sports, abuse doesn't pop into your head. Plus, those who suffer abuse get good at HIDING it. Sakura and Naruto only found out because they actually saw Itachi break Sasuke's arm. But Kakashi (and thus, the reader) isn't there for it, so he has to dig. If we were to write this story from the student perspective, (and we mean a multiple-point-of-view piece) there would probably be more "excitement". We hope that this explains why it may not be as exciting as other stories. (We're long-winded that way...) Despite all that, as long as you enjoy, we're happy little authors.

**InoShikaCho**: A last minute review, just as we were editing this chapter! We're glad you like how our teachers are. Like we've said numerous times, we want people to learn a little bit of what teachers do. And no, the way tests are set up now, nobody likes them. Maybe (I don't know for sure, but maybe) when the two of us were kids, the state testing wasn't so bad because there was less of it and no high stakes. Maybe back then teachers could actually use the data properly. But as it stands, it stinks. Well, Gai's little arc here was very scary for us, and as we said in our notes, we can't really read this chapter without getting REALLY emotional. Because one of us was so close to one aspect of this arc, it's very hard to guage how you as readers will take it. 

Thank you everyone, and next week starts Bloody April. 


	29. Week 28

**April: Week Twenty-Eight**

**Author's Note**: Everyone thinks April will be about Hinata and Gaara. Wonder why?

* * *

The weekend was bright and sunny, temperatures walking up and trying to touch sixty. Happy and cheery, but Kakashi didn't overly notice it. He spied his neighbors out clearing yards and brushing aside all the sand that they had spilled on their driveways to have traction against snow. The Scarecrow wasn't really in the mood for all the happiness wandering around; it struck him sometimes, where he just had the intense need to brood. The two sunny days were spent curled up on his couch, staring at nothing as something deep in his brain tried to work itself out.

Whatever it was had worked, however, and as Kakashi drove in Monday morning he felt rested and recuperated.

The same could not be said for Gai. Seeing the Green Beast in the hall, Kakashi saw dark circles under his eyes. That was the only sign, however, because he was smiling and bright and acted for all the world as if his job wasn't in jeopardy because an idiot had called DCF. Kakashi walked up to his friend. "Any news?" he asked.

The smile dropped for a split second, and for Gai it was the best indicator that it was bothering him. Deeply. "No, my eternal rival, I have heard nothing from that _illustrious_ institution. They are a sadly overworked collection of caretakers of youth, and this case is clearly not a priority; no doubt it will be several months before I hear word."

Kakashi took a moment, staring at the dark eyes and thinking about the dropped smile. "That sucks," he said. "You're in limbo in the meantime."

Gai openly laughed. "Kakashi your concern is touching! Were I not already dried out I would be shedding tears of movement!"

_That_ thought was slightly disturbing. "There's no need to go that far," he said quickly.

"Ah, but I do, rival of mine," Gai said, slapping a large hand on the Scarecrow's shoulder. "Yours is the friendship I value most in this beloved school, and your thoughts of me give me strength and fuel so that I may continue working at this institution for however long I may have. Besides," he added, flashing a shiny grin and a thumbs-up, "I think I'll come out ahead on this one."

And that made Kakashi feel one hundred percent better.

The day started out well enough, and by the time the bell rang for B period to be let out and for C period to start, Kakashi was making plans to wander to the library and blow off the period. He'd been neglecting his dearly beloved book, and it was currently demanding his attention, poking him from its place in his pocket and letting him know that it had been weeks since it had been opened. The thought of being lost in the bowels of the library, deep it its aisles where no one could find him was too tempting, and Kakashi finished writing up his agenda for his next class and headed out his door with that dreamy thought in mind.

Asuma met him at the doorframe, a more than slightly wild look in his eyes. "Kakashi!" he said. "It's missing!"

Oh, well.

"What's missing?" Kakashi asked.

"The money! It's missing!"

"... What money?"

"The cookie and cake money!" Asuma very nearly shouted. "The fundraiser!"

Ah. The most recent fundraiser for Kakashi's team was a cookie and cake order. The students wandered about the school and their neighborhoods and solicited adults to place and order for some kind of cake or box of cookies. They would collect the money with the order, and then deliver the goods once they arrived. Asuma had been in charge of the collection.

Kakashi blinked. "That finishes this week doesn't it? How much did you have?"

"Over three hundred fifty dollars!"

Several curses filtered up through Kakashi's head, but he decided to remain level headed. "Okay, the obvious questions first. Where was it last?"

"I was keeping it in my desk," Asuma said. "It was in an envelope under all the order forms. I deliberately kept it underneath so nobody could see it. I know I had it this morning. Sakura and Matsuri both handed in their forms. I put it right where I always put it and just now, when I went to check it, it was gone!"

"Who was in your homeroom? Your classes? Was anyone by your desk without your permission?"

"We were doing an exploration in negative numbers today," Asuma said, his hands gesticulating violently. "They were all over the room because those damn desks are tilted and they had to find a level surface. They were on the floor, the front desk, the back counter, the heater..." Asuma closed his eyes, putting a hand unconsciously to his mouth to take a drag of a nonexistent cigarette. "Goddamn it who was using my desk?" he muttered. "Nobody last period, I didn't trust any of them. Who was it in first period?"

Kakashi's mind was also working, mentally filtering through the grade and determining just who would steal that kind of money. When he mentally tallied the first dozen, he gave up, knowing that there were too many who would see that opportunity and be too tempted, or too hard on their luck, or too desperate, or just too stupid to not do so. Then there was the possibility of doing it to be cruel or to get back at Asuma for some reason; of course that list was particularly shor--

"Asuma, have you had Kankuro yet?"

"Last period of the day," Sudoku-sama muttered. "A period was such a pain in the ass today, who was at my desk?"

"Do have Gaara? Or Temari?"

That seemed to snap the math teacher to attention. "Temari? I had her first period. She was working with Genjimaru. She was being really bitchy about something, I don't know what."

"Was she at your desk?"

"No, I don't think so," Asuma said, scratching his face. "Genji I trust, but not her."

Kakashi sighed. "All right, grab Gai and Kurenai. Let's tear your room apart first before we start leaping to conclusions. If we can't find it by the end of the period, we'll make the announcement to SSR that it's missing and start making some inquiries. With luck it'll mysteriously appear before the end of the day."

Between the three of them, they searched every inch of Asuma's room. The desk was the first victim, being completely emptied out and gone through folder by folder and paper by paper. The back counter went through similar scrutiny, checking all the cabinets and the shelves. The desks were given a once over, looking underneath them and around the floor, and the front desk was picked apart as well. The longer it took, the more upset Asuma became, and in the last five minutes of class he had a cigarette out and ready to light before Kurenai snatched it out of his fingers.

"Okay," Kakashi said. "We make the announcement in SSR. I'll pass the word on to Iruka. We'll give them until lunch period. If nothing comes up, then we start pulling them out of lunch and asking them what happened." He paused before adding, "Do you want me to cover for you while you go have a cigarette?"

A deep breath and, "No, thanks. I've got it." Asuma's face was black as a thundercloud.

The bell rang, and Kakashi stopped briefly across the hall to pass on to Iruka what was happening. Naruto was already in the room and working on his vocabulary. Gaara was there with his head on his desk.

"Three hundred fifty dollars?" Iruka repeated, his eyes widening in shock. Naruto and a few other students looked up. "That's a lot of money."

"It's also a world of trouble to the student who's caught with it," Kakashi added glibly. "Theft is a criminal offense, after all. I'm already picturing over a dozen different faces in orange jumpsuits and hand-and-ankle cuffs. Anyway, pass the word and we'll see what happens."

Back in his room, Kakashi briefly made the announcement. As expected, several students did not take it seriously in the slightest; happily announcing that they stole it to buy a new car or some other absurdity. Others were more than happy to point the finger, usually at the "losers" of the grade that everyone hated. Naruto's name came up with disgusting frequency, but between Kakashi's declaration that pointing fingers usually means you have something to hide and the furious stares of Sasuke and the angry "Hey!" of Sakura, his SSR quieted pretty quickly.

Kakashi's normal rule of only one person to the bathroom he let slide on the off chance that someone would use the excuse to give the money back, and he overall kept a keen eye on the kids, looking for guilty looks or anxious faces. But they were all reading (or pretending to read) and only three people left the room. Naruto had finished his work in Resource and had quietly slipped over, taking his normal seat and pulling out his manga. He glanced at Kakashi twice, but made no indications that the teacher should come over and so the English teacher waited.

The bell rang, and as he was getting up to ask Asuma if the money had returned, Naruto tugged at his sleeve.

"Kakashi-sensei," he said softly, watching the door and waiting for the class to empty out. When it was just the two of them, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of money. "I, uh, found this. In the boy's bathroom."

Kakashi took the roll slowly, looking at the thickness and mentally estimating; it was all the money. He looked to the boy. "The boy's bathroom?" he asked skeptically.

Naruto looked down. "Sensei, you said that theft was a criminal offense."

"Are you admitting to stealing the money?" That was just impossible, it was _Naruto_!

"No!" the blond said quickly, startled at the thought. "But I might have had to... well... steal it back."

It took a lot for Kakashi to be speechless, but for a full forty-five seconds he could think of nothing to say as he processed what the boy had just revealed. Pride suddenly radiated off Kakashi, and he saw Naruto sense it; the boy blushed and looked around, unsure why he suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Would you be willing to name who this person you - hypothetically - had to steal from?"

"Hypo-what?" Naruto blinked, but then he realized the rest of the sentence, and he started shaking his head almost violently. "Nuh-uh! No way! They'd kill me if they found out it was me!"

It was more than one person, then; two or more people in league with each other. That would help narrow down the list. Or make it bigger. "That's okay Naruto. You're heroic enough for just returning the money. Get to class before the 'they' you mentioned notice anything."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!"

* * *

Asuma was thrilled to get the money back, and was completely pole-axed to learn it was Naruto who had returned it.

"I need a cigarette," he muttered, pulling out a pack and disappearing from Team.

"We need to reward him for this," Iruka said. "This is good. This is _good_; he needs some kind of positive reinforcement for that, if nothing else to let him know he's not going to jail," he added, leveling a flat glare to Kakashi. The Scarecrow flipped a page of his book in reply.

"We can give him a good citizenship award," Kurenai said, "That is, if we had that category."

"That is a good idea," Gai agreed, his eyes noticeably brighter with this bit of good news, "but those awards are at the end of the year. I think it best to give him a more immediate reward."

"A certificate," Kakashi offered. "We used to have them back when we did student of the month. We can blow it up to a full-page size; have the old man and everyone here sign it. Something nice and flowery."

"And maybe a prize of some kind," Kurenai added, running her hand through her locks of hair. "Like a gift certificate to the school store."

"Better yet, a bookstore," Iruka said. "Like three manga comic books or something. He's addicted to those things, and his language and reading skills and increased exponentially because of it."

"A gift that keeps on giving," Kakashi said. "I like it. Now who's good with Photoshop?"

* * *

They'd spent all of Team on that certificate. Asuma, when he'd returned, had looked at the sketch Kurenai had drawn up and began to make it on the computer while Gai dug out some of their old high-gloss paper. Meanwhile, Iruka and Kakashi made a list of the manga that they'd seen Naruto read or talk about, trying to figure out which one's he'd be most interested in.

It was printed after school, and after Kakashi scrawled his signature with permanent marker on the high-gloss paper he drove to the bookstore with the list they'd come up with, deciding finally to buy two volumes of a series and an art book of a ninja manga he enjoyed (this was in addition to several purchases of his own). The next morning he filled out the form for reimbursement and checked with Sandaime to see if he'd signed the certificate. He had.

Putting the manga into a manila envelope, he stopped off at Asuma's room to pass it off. Given his abject fear of whomever it was that stole the money in the first place, they all agreed it would be a private ceremony.

Wandering over to Kurenai's room, he saw that Iruka and Gai were already there. They gathered into Kurenai's back room and, within five minutes, Asuma trailed in with a nervous looking Naruto in tow.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked, his eyes darting across all the teachers nervously.

"Oh, about the biggest trouble you could possibly get in," Kakashi said lightly.

"I told you I didn't steal anything!!" he shouted, suddenly backing up in abject fear.

"Oh, really?" Gai said, "Then I guess we don't need to reward you."

"... Reward me?" the boy repeated, clearly confused.

Iruka knelt down. "Naruto, for finding and returning the money that was stolen yesterday, we want to present you with this." He pulled out the envelope and gave it to the boy. He took it tentatively, clearly expecting handcuff inside. He opened and overturned it, his face becoming openly shocked as he saw the manga fall through his hands to the floor.

"Wh-what?"

"There's more in there, pull it out," Iruka pressed.

With some tugging, Naruto pulled out the certificate, the fancy script and large letters jumping out at the boy. He read it slowly, and then again, and then again. He stared at the signatures, and then finally glanced down at the manga.

"This... this is for me?" he whispered.

"Yes," Asuma said. "It's a thank you. Not many people would do what you did, and it deserved a reward."

"Wow..."

The moment hung, all the teachers welling with pride and Naruto shocked at such an act being done to _him_, before Kakashi judged that too much time had passed.

"Well, anyway," he said. "You go enjoy yourself. We have homeroom to get to."

The spell broke, and they all shuffled out of Kurenai's room. The Scarecrow noted that Temari was stared at them as they filed out.

* * *

Well, Naruto just couldn't be quiet. He announced to the whole world that the teachers had given him a certificate of heroism, signed by the principal, and manga as a prize. Everyone had asked what he'd done, and on that score he still kept his mouth shut, not wanting to be killed by the original thieves. Sakura was bursting with pride for him, repeatedly smiling or sporadically hugging him and saying how great it was. Even the ever stoic Sasuke had a tiny grin on his face whenever he glanced at Naruto, and he seemed unusually good-natured about the gaggle of girls that followed him (well, until one proclaimed her love for him, then he went back to leveling flat glares).

The next day found the boy still boasting, but Kakashi could not begrudge the boy the right to bask in the glow of it all. He'd been glow-starved for several years, and wanting to savor it was natural - just as long as he didn't get annoying. The strained look Iruka had between classes indicated that he just might be. Kakashi mentally started germinating possible teasing things to say to Naruto to let the boy know he was going overboard when he heard a resounding crack.

His attention snapped to the students in the halls, and he was surprised to see a collection of eighth graders there. The students were all gathering around something by Kurenai's lockers, and Kakashi made a direct beeline, shouting "Move!"s and "Excuse me!"s as he shoved his way through the wall of kids.

On the floor was Naruto, flat on his back on the tiles, slowly lifting an arm to his head. Sakura was there, screaming and crying by his head while holding her shoulder. The wall was closing in, giving the pair a claustrophobic sense of containment. Kakashi raised his voice.

"_Give them room!_"

The students instinctively backed away from his volume, remembering all to well the time he had silenced the entire hallway from his room in January.

He knelt down and bit back one of his finer curses when he saw all the blood. Naruto's face was covered in it.

"What happened?" he demanded of Sakura.

"Those eighth graders! Kimihiro and Shizuka, they just rammed his head into the lockers! Sensei, he's bleeding!!"

"I can see that, Sakura," Kakashi said slowly, keeping his voice calm.

Kurenai appeared from somewhere, plastic gloves on her hands. "I've called Tsunade," she said quickly, "She's calling an ambulance as we speak. Help me take him to the Health center." She pulled out a series of paper towels and clinically began wiping the blood away.

Kakashi moved to pick up the dazed boy, careful not to get blood on his own clothes, Kurenai still wiping away the blood; it kept oozing out of a horrific cut on his forehead, and his eyes kept wandering around, unable to focus.

"Ssensei..." he managed to slur. "Wh'happ'ned?"

"Don't worry about that," Kakashi said softly.

"Ssak'ra, 's sshe okay?"

"I'm right here, Naruto," the pink haired girl said quickly, still rubbing her shoulder.

Kakashi stood up, finally. Naruto was surprisingly light in his arms; the boy's clothes were so baggy one rarely realized that he was small for his age. The students were still hovering, some cheering at the blood while others were white with terror. The English teacher took a deep breath.

"_Back to your classrooms_!"

Even that did not pull them away from the carnage, but Asuma and Gai were already at work, shouting and badgering students back to where they belonged while Kakashi started walking down the hall, Kurenai at his side and still working to wipe away the blood. He turned his head slightly. "Sakura, with me."

The girl immediately followed suit, and he quickly realized he had another follower, Sasuke. He allowed it for the moment, he didn't really have time to try and kick him back to class. The procession made it to the Health Center without incident; class had already started and while Kakashi was certain they turned a few heads, no mob started. Tsunade met them halfway and immediately started doing her own assessment. They went not to the center, but outside; an ambulance was already waiting.

"I'm impressed," he said. "They usually get here in fifteen minutes."

"It's been fifteen minutes," Tsunade growled. "What the hell took you so long?"

"It's called a mob," he said glibly. "Look at Sakura, I think she was pushed, too."

Sasuke turned startled eyes to the girl. "I'm fine!" she insisted. "I'm fine! But Naruto--"

"Don't worry, Sakura," Kakashi said lightly. "He's in the very best of hands." With much effort, Tsunade and specifically Sasuke were able to pull her away and back to the Health Center. Turning to Kurenai, he said, "I'll ride with him to the hospital until he's settled. Make sure his foster father's called, and I'll call you when there's news." He realized belatedly that Kurenai was white as a ghost. She could only nod mutely before turning and reentering the school.

By now the EMTs had Naruto safely strapped in, and Kakashi followed them into the ambulance.

"Sensei, my head hurts," the boy complained, sounding much more lucid.

"I imagine it does," Kakashi said lightly.

"Okay," an EMT said, "I'm going to ask you some very simple questions, alright?"

"Do you have to?" Naruto muttered. "Just gimme an aspirin and let me go to sleep."

"We have to make sure nothing scrambled your brains, Naruto," Kakashi said, keeping his voice light. "We wouldn't want you to suddenly start thinking you're Sasuke, would we?"

"Ew! Don't even say that kidding!" the boy winced at the thought, again bringing his hand to his bleeding forehead.

"What day of the week is it?" the EMT asked.

"I don't know," Naruto said. "I never know."

"Certainly you do. Have you had Social Studies yet?"

"Yeah..."

"What was your warm up?"

"Current events. Oh, then today is Wednesday."

And so the EMT went on asking simple general knowledge questions. Kakashi needed to prompt Naruto a few times. Despite their best efforts, the kids would never retain some pieces of information; they were too busy just surviving. The first president of the United States? The hint is Sakura, a.k.a. cherry trees. What's your home address? Reword it to how you get to school. What month is it? Well it was a Fool's Day over the weekend; and so on. Naruto did manage to answer the questions though, and by the time they arrived at the hospital he was very cranky.

"It's just a stupid headache, all I need in an aspirin!"

"We'll let the doctor's decide that," Kakashi said.

"Why do you gotta take their side?" he whined.

"Because they know what they're doing, Naruto. Do you remember those test questions you wrote for Sasuke and Sakura? The doctors have their own tests questions, and their curriculum is in a language even _I_ don't know."

"But you know everything, sensei," Naruto exclaimed.

"Omnipotent, Naruto, not omniscient. I don't know medical jargon, otherwise I'd bust you out of here myself."

The EMT riding with them grinned, but got right to work wheeling the boy into the hospital. Kakashi was just as quickly relegated to forms, and he quickly explained that he wasn't a parent but a teacher; he gave Yondaime's name and the nurse went about looking him up to call. Kakashi, too, whipped out his cell phone and dialed the school, passing on to Tsunade that they'd arrived at the hospital and that the doctors were looking at the boy now. He learned from her that Sakura and been next to Naruto when the eighth graders had shoved the boy, and that she'd banged her shoulder into the lockers but, aside from some ugly bruises, she was fine. She was actually still in the Health Center, had refused to leave until she heard that Naruto was fine, and so Kakashi told the head nurse to put her on the phone.

"Kakashi-sensei! Is he okay? Is he okay?!"

"Breathe, Sakura, breathe," the English teacher said lightly.

"But there was so much blood!"

"Well, the doctors are looking at him now," he said, still keeping his voice singsong and unaffected. "He answered all the questions right in the ambulance, so I'm pretty sure we can rule out any serious injury. He does have a very thick head, after all."

"Don't make this a joke!" she cried out, but there was a smile in her voice, and Kakashi knew she was relieved to hear the good news.

"Do you think you can go back to class now?" he asked. "If for no other reason than to tell Sasuke to stop glaring at the world like I know he's probably doing right now?"

There was a long pause, Sakura clearly not wanting to go back.

"There's nothing more you can do, Sakura," Kakashi said, his voice becoming much more serious now. "You have to get back to class and let Sasuke know everything is all right. You also have to take very good notes for Naruto for when he gets back."

"... Okay."

"Good, now give the phone back to Tsunade-sama, please."

They exchanged a few final pleasantries, and Kakashi had finally hung up when he heard a booming voice.

"Kakashi!!"

The teacher turned around to see the frantic face of Yondaime as he thundered into the room. Yellow Flash had looked that frantic twice that Kakashi saw, and the resemblance as always was startling and painful. He pushed it aside however, and walked up to the man who was currently throwing out some very creative explicatives.

"The first thing I'd recommend is calming down. I'm sure wherever Naruto is he can hear you from there."

"_You don't know where he is_??"

"He's with the doctors, but no I don't know the exact room. Would you like to calm down now, or be thrown out before you see him?"

That seemed to work, and the blond man took several deep breaths, willing himself to quiet. A nurse nervously asked if he was Uzumaki Naruto's father, and soon he was filling forms. When he was finished, he turned his very blue eyes to the Scarecrow and demanded to know what happened. Kakashi explained everything he knew, including his speculations on why Naruto had been shoved.

"But they were eighth graders," Yondaime said finally.

"Exactly. Monday, a student or group of students stole several hundred dollars from a teacher. Naruto got it back, and then the next day he was shouting on from on high that he had been rewarded for a good deed. The student or group of students figured out exactly what happened, I believe, and wanted payback without drawing attention for themselves, ergo the eighth graders."

"Isn't this all a little complex for middle school?"

"You'd be surprised at exactly what a middle school student is capable of," Kakashi said, remembering what Kankuro had done just last week to get a teacher, to get Gai, in trouble. The Scarecrow suspected strongly that the boy was the one responsible for the theft of the money, but he had no proof and therefore kept his mouth shut.

"Excuse me, Yondaime-san?" A doctor came up and the two men immediately stood. He blinked a moment, looking at the blond. "There must be a mistake, you're listed as his foster father, not his father."

"I am," he said quickly. "I know. We do look a lot alike."

"And you are?" the doctor said, looking to Kakashi.

"Hatake Kakashi," he answered. This was the part where he was going to be told he wasn't family and to beat it, but,

"He's family too," Yondaime said, overriding whatever the doctor was about to say. "How is Naruto? Is he okay?"

"He's whining up a storm, if that tells you anything," the doctor replied, smiling. "There's no serious damage, no concussion either. I think we'll want to keep him overnight for observation, make sure nothing happens, but I'm about ready to give him a clean bill of health."

"Oh, thank god!" Yondaime said, letting out an explosive breath. "Can we see him?"

"Of course. Right this way."

The doctor led them through the halls to the boy's room, and both adults were happy to see him sitting up and squinting at them. There was a patch hidden under a wrapping of gauze around his head. Without the blood, it looked much less morbid, and Kakashi found himself letting go a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. Meanwhile, Naruto looked outraged.

"You asshole!" he shrieked. "You can't afford to just get off work like that! What the hell are you doing here?!" Given that his finger was pointing dangerously at Yondaime, Kakashi assumed that was the focus of his rage.

The foster father reacted in kind. "What am I doing here? _What am I doing here_?! I get a call that you're going to the hospital and you expect me to just say 'Oh! Okay thanks for passing it on, I've got a meeting to get to'?! What kind of foster father do you take me for?"

"An asshole, obviously!!"

"Ungrateful brat!"

"Stupid foster!"

"Knucklehead!"

"Ah, there's so much love in the air," Kakashi interjected lightly. The pair gave identical blushes, as if only just realizing that there was another party in the room. He gave them an unguarded grin before turning to the boy. "So, you're okay?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. I guess," he replied, still embarrassed at how he and his foster father were reacting.

"Good. Sakura and Sasuke will be very happy to hear it. Oh, and you'll still be responsible for all the work that you miss. Just thought I should mention."

"You--" Any explicative the clearly energetic Naruto might have given was cut off as Kakashi quickly spun on his heal and left the room, leaving the two alone. He did hear some new shouts thrown at the door, but he just whistled tunelessly while he again pulled out his cell, happy to pass on the good news.

* * *

The week was not over of course.

Naruto, Yondaime said, was to be kept out for the rest of the week. His head was killing him, and the Yellow Flash doppelganger thought it better to be safe than sorry. The team had been relieved to hear the good news, Kurenai's color finally came back and Gai made several obligatory (and long-winded) speeches about youth, while Iruka just let out a breath and sank into his chair. The following period, Sakura and Sasuke, too, looked much happier to hear about the clean bill of health. Sasuke, the teacher noted, was holding an icepack to Sakura's shoulder.

The next day, the weather stopped flirting and finally cleared sixty. The warm weather was germinating energy in the students; there were a lot of eyes wandering out the windows, looking for signs of budding trees or green grass.

Kakashi spied Team 1 in a tight huddle as he walked in Kurenai's dent of the hall leading to her corner room. It was a sight he had started to see more and more of, and he was curious. This deep into the year, however, the grade knew just how good Kakashi was at, well, anything, and at first site the three of them immediately snapped their mouths closed. That made him wonder even more, but he pressed on and let them get back to talking. He had other ways to learn things; he'd keep his ear to the ground if he got signs that something would happen.

And, as it turned out, something did happen.

They had all ordered sandwiches from a local sandwich place, and Kakashi had gone to the front with the money to collect the foodstuffs and pay the delivery boy. He'd just stepped back into the school to see Ebisu (a man he didn't particularly like at the moment) and Ibiki run into the cafeteria. It was currently seventh grade lunch, and he poked his head in to see what was what.

Not three feet from him he watched as Ibiki pulled Temari off a scratched up and bleeding Sakura, who was holding her head. Bits of pink hair were on the floor.

He sighed. Catfights were always so much more vicious. Ebisu and the other teachers half pulled and half dragged the girls to the office, and he watched with more than mild interest as Sasuke trailed after them, and even more interest when he saw Kankuro and Gaara watching it all. He couldn't do anything about it, at least until someone called him, and by this point he was sort of hoping in a rare moment of selfishness that he wouldn't have to step in. Even he got tired of one catastrophe after another.

He passed the word on as he entered Team, handing out the sandwiches and salads. Iruka wrote it all down as he bit into his meatball sub. "It's cold," he muttered.

"My salad has pepper," Kurenai muttered. "I hate peppers."

"You did say all veggies."

"Yeah, but their menu never said anything about peppers."

"You mean to say _this_ is how you spend your time; complaining about food?"

All five teachers spun around to see Sasuke standing there, glaring at them. His fists were balled at his sides, shaking in anger. Kurenai started to say, "Sasuke, you're supposed to kno--"

"And you're supposed to care!" he yelled, cutting her off. "You're the people who are supposed to give a damn about what happens to us! Instead you're talking about your damn lunches!"

Kakashi stood up. "Come with me," he ordered, walking up to and then past the boy. "We need to talk." He threw a glance at the team before heading out the door, taking long strides around the corner to his room. When he opened the door Sasuke mutely followed, and the English teacher left the lights off and closed the door behind him.

"Sit down."

Sasuke didn't move.

"I said _sit down_," he repeated, changing the pitch of his voice. Sasuke's gave a near imperceptible flinch, but still held his ground.

"You can't make me," the boy replied, fire in his eyes. For a brief moment, Kakashi saw a resemblance to the boy's brother, Itachi.

The teacher sighed. "Okay, we can do this standing if you want. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

Sasuke only continued to glare.

"That's you're cue to start yelling and screaming blue murder," Kakashi offered, taking his seat at the front desk. "This is the part where you yell and shout at me that I'm not doing anything, about what good I am because in spite of all the drama and tragedy that's happening at the school - and believe me, there's more stuff happening than you could even guess at - we teachers finally had an unplanned moment of humanity: we complained about the food we ordered out." He paused, gauging the student. "Well?" he said, "Aren't you going to start shouting?"

"Look at what's happening!" Sasuke stated, determined not to rise to Kakashi's bait and start yelling. He didn't realize that the true bait was getting the boy to start talking. Kakashi leaned back and listened. "You haven't lifted a finger all week over this!!"

"And what is 'this'?" he asked, sounding perfectly coy.

" 'This' is that bastard Kankuro! Isn't it obvious? He's the one who planned on stealing that damn money from Asuma-sensei; he had Temari do it so they could give it to that bastard Gaara!! Everything's because of that bastard!"

"I'm sorry, but which bastard?" Kakashi asked, still keeping his voice light. He was going to get some prime information out of this; Sasuke was better informed than he was. Was that because Naruto trusted his teammates? Kakashi believed it was.

"Don't you ever pay attention?!" Sasuke shouted, now completely worked up, his anger overtaking his reason. "They're always causing trouble! Temari and her snide know-it-all jabs at Sakura, Kankuro starting all the fights and stealing the money, Gaara and his freaky outbursts, they're nothing but trouble! And you do nothing! You just let them keep messing with people! What the hell ever possessed you to put those three together?" And so the rant started, Sasuke reciting and entire litany of what Team 1 did over the course of the school year, from Temari manipulating the girls and inciting Ino and bullying Sakura to Kankuro and his behind the scenes antics to Gaara's silent intimidation of everyone around him. The Scarecrow was reminded, not for the first time, that the student perspective of things was sometimes deeper than his. He was good, certainly, but he wasn't with the same group of kids since kindergarten, like the kids were; Kakashi only had a set amount of months to see the students, in a school setting and limited further by any or all absences. The students saw each other upwards of every day, in multiple settings, and often knew things that adults would never know.

Listening to the rant, Kakashi had new insight to Team 1. Kankuro could calm Gaara because he was the only one manipulative enough to get under Gaara's skin and apply ice to the hot zones. Kankuro was a student, too, making him much more approachable than the authority figures of teachers. Temari fit in by keeping them on an even keel, preventing one or the other from getting in too deep, and serving as the one to keep their grades up, helping them stay invisible, under the radar. It was a stellar set up, but they used their newfound power selfishly, from the looks of it. The theft and the abuse of Gai was testament to that.

"And you just sit there on your ass!!' Sasuke concluded, finally out of words.

He gave the child a pause, letting him take a breath and calm down, or at least stop seeing red. When enough time had passed, Kakashi said, "And therein lies the core of the problem. You're not angry at me for doing nothing, you're angry at yourself."

The boy snapped to attention, his face a complex mix of emotions.

"You can't be angry at me for doing nothing, Sasuke, because you of all people have seen what I do for you. I was at the hospital, helping you through the entire DCF process, I helped you escape from the grocery store, took you home when you had no where else to go; and by now I think you've figured out that whenever things are problematic but doesn't need teacher intervention I push you to your team, Naruto and Sakura. No, you're not upset that I do nothing; you're upset that you've done nothing.

"But that thought is erroneous, Sasuke. You do much more than you realize."

"No, I don't," the boy whispered, looking down and hiding his face with his thick locks of dark hair. Finally, the boy sank down into a chair. "No I don't. They're so much further than me..." There was a deep intake of breath, releasing in deep shudders. Was Sasuke crying? Kakashi couldn't tell. "Even Naruto..."

"Sasuke," Kakashi drew out, sighing himself. "You can't judge your emotional development on those two. Sakura has a warm, healthy, well-adjusted home. Of course she's 'further' than you, she's been in an environment where she can become very strong emotionally.

"Naruto, meanwhile, I don't think is as far ahead of you as you think. He's a boy who hides a lot of his pain. Actually, if you want to be picky, he's much better at it than you." Sasuke's head lifted slightly. "He hides it by being constantly being positive. I'm sure you've heard all his proclamations, his 'believe its!', his goofy jokes, and even his deliberate clumsiness. He feeds off of all that positive energy, and it prevents him from going completely insane. That's how he defends his psyche from the kind of onslaught that he's been put through.

"That's very different from you, because you've come from both of those worlds. You know what the warmth and kindness of Sakura's world is like, and you know the tragedy and pain of Naruto's. Having so recently coming from both, you haven't figured out your own defense mechanisms. Or rather, the only thing you can think of to do is brood, be quiet, be dark, because that's how you view your life. Am I right?"

There was no response.

"Sakura and Naruto don't see you like that. They see you for who you are. But I think you know that. You know it so well, you're so grateful for it, that you want to do anything you can for them."

The boy glanced up at him, but only briefly. Kakashi mentally sighed in relief for finally hitting the right buttons.

"And we're back to what we were talking about before. You're only twelve years old, and there's only so much that you can do. Last time I told you that you couldn't do anything; and for that particular problem you couldn't. But for this you can. The funny part is that you're already doing it."

Finally, Sasuke looked his teacher full in the eyes, raising his head and allowing his shocked and confused expression to show.

"You're there for them," he said simply. "You're wrong if you think I don't watch. I saw you follow us when we were taking Naruto to the ambulance. I saw you later that day holding the ice pack on Sakura's shoulder because it was awkward for her to do so and do her work. You followed again today at lunch, and I'm certain you had your own say in whatever it was that lead up to that catfight. I'm curious, how many times do you find an excuse to stop by their houses, to make sure they're okay?"

Sasuke looked away, embarrassed that a teacher knew him so well.

"Sasuke," Kakashi pressed. "It's something to be proud of, what you're doing. You're displaying a kind of strength. It is, perhaps, the best kind of strength to have. You're much stronger in that field than I am, and I want you to keep training in it. Get as good as Sakura, get as good as Naruto if you really think he's further than you. Be proud of that strength you have."

He stood. "When you're ready to get back to class, knock and come in, and I'll give you a pass."

Kakashi left the boy in his room and went back to Team. He had a lot to pass on before the bell rang.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Ahhh, what to say for this chapter. For those of you wondering why Kankuro is still in school after what happened last week, the answer is very simple. DCF takes FOREVER in its investigations and paperwork for anything that doesn't require immediate attention (paperwork being the biggest). Gai's not going to get any word until the summer on whether he'll be cleared of charges or not. And, while Kankuro was clearly a little sneak, the worst DCF could do to him would be to reccommend counciling. Ebisu, being the uptight-by-the-book type, probably doesn't want to do anything until he hears from DCF.

Most of this is a true story. I had money from a fundraiser disappear from where I (Mirror) was hiding it to have it mysteriously return when we started questioning students. In a separate incident, there was a student who had his head rammed into the lockers, like Naruto, because some eighth graders were in the hall when they weren't supposed to be in. (The lockers were permanently dented.) There was yet another student I had who, over the course of the year, would return money when people dropped it, and fundraiser money that a fellow teacher left out. (He was a sweetie. Lord knows how, given how the rest of his family were jerks and dreaded whenever you had them in class...) Technically, whenever there is blood involved, _you're not supposed to touch it_. That's why Kurenai was cleaning up, she had plastic gloves. Kakashi, however, shouldn't have picked up Naruto and carried him to the ambulance in case there were other injuries he could aggrivate. But this is Kakashi, and with his military and battlefield experience, he just wouldn't sit still for the EMTs to arrive.

Several of you in your reviews expressed great disbelief in Kankuro deliberately harming himself in order to get a teacher into trouble. That was a true story from a coworker, including the questioning-of-the-class that solved it. Neither of us can stress this enough, it's a different culture, it's a different mode of thinking, and it's more reactionary than thought out. The DCF mess that Ebisu created, happened to one of us directly, however, and that was the MOST DIFFICULT part to write of the entire story. Gai's speach on how he will keep teaching made me cry writing it, and Image cry reading it. What Kankuro did was secondary to the botched handling of calling DCF and being interviewed without a union representative in the room. That was the most DANGEROUS part of the chapter. shudder Moving on.

**Sarimia**: Gaara going Nice Guy like Gai and Rock Lee? Freaky. Amusing, but freaky. It may have been easy to complete those activities, but they were fun and relaxing before a holiday, ne? Sometimes that's more of a point than the hidden lesson behind it. Besides, the day before a week vacation, or even a four-day weekend, is difficult for kids to concentrate.

**InoShikaCho**: I think we answered most of your review in the author's notes, but as for Sakura and Lee? We're not telling. :)

**Theblackroseofkonoha**: Yeah, we don't really like Kankuro at this point either. There is a reason for everything, though. Read future chapters for an explanation of why the way he is.

**Pnkrockninja101**: We're so sorry that a story similar to this happened to you. At least no one got DCF involved, ne? Leastwise we're glad everything worked out for your co-worker and that you were able to connect to the chapter.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: We're glad our advice worked for you, no matter how unknowledgable we were. Oh, you'll try and learn from everything we've been preaching about? Sweet. Thank you. And, as you can see, Gaara wasn't the one we dealt with this week.

**Jill BioSkop**: Like we said above, it's a different culture. It's very hard for us to explain. This isn't to say that all people who live in poverty are like that. As you've no doubt seen over the course of this story, there are many examples of supporting one another. There was one school I worked at when I was in college where I had to do an auction with several classes to use up fake money they had earned over the quarter. Some kids didn't have a lot of money, some did. Those who did were always bidding on items for their friends. Because they all know they have nothing and will share if they can. (grin) There seems to be a lot of support for our little social studies teacher, isn't there?

**Dochii**: Waiting for Hinata and Gaara? Hmmmmmm. Wonder why. Hope you weren't dissapointed that it wasn't either of them this week. Oh? Kanji for Lee instead of Li? Can you send us the linke for that (a personal message would probably work better for that, I don't think ff . net will allow links in reviews...)

**Paosheep**: Sick? That's no good. And yes, real life did get that justice, as week explained above. Maybe not always or as quickly, but it CAN happen. We hope you linger on the happy feeling. That's a better place to be. Because April isn't going to be pretty. (Have we been hinting enough of that over the course of this story? Naaaaahh.) Your welcome. We're glad you appreciate our little edu-tainment story. We had absolutely NO CLUE how readers would view it since we're so close to the subject matter.

**Necromancer Gora**: Yatta! Another new reviewer (I think... Gaaaah, can't remember if we've had a necromancer reviewer before, gomen if you have...) We're glad to see our attempts at tension have translated. Since we're often writing from experience or stories from coworkers, it's hard to determine if we've given the right atmosphere. ESPECIALLY with the last week of April. We're so happy you enjoy.

Thank you everyone, see you next week. Kakashi really could use a vacation.


	30. Week 29

**April: Week Twenty-Nine**

**SpiderWench**: Your very first review ever for this story of ours inspired this chapter. Thank you.

* * *

Kakashi was very much looking forward to vacation following that week. Between Gai's job currently being in question, Naruto walking around with a bandage hidden under his headband, Sakura on five-day OSS because of the fight she was in last week, Temari's theft and Kankuro's irritating manipulations, not to mention Hanamaru's family wasn't listening about the severe trouble he was getting into, Takamaru's fight in the gym after school, Shiori's crumple to tears in social studies, and Yuzuhi and Manami following Temari's example and getting into a catfight after school Friday, the Scarecrow was looking forward to a quiet week without students.

The problem, however, was just getting there. There was still a full school week between him and his precious nine-day holiday, and while he couldn't put his finger on it, Kakashi felt something brewing under the surface with the students. He didn't think they'd be stupid enough to try for another food fight, but the English teacher was getting the sense that something was going to happen. He just couldn't find out what. In addition, while he knew something was coming, the feeling he was getting from the students indicated that it wasn't going to be something planned.

Monday morning, he found an email in his inbox from the Haruno family, expressing outrage that their daughter, who wasn't the one who started the fight and was only trying to defend herself, was being put on a five day suspension. The English teacher shot back a response, explaining that while she didn't start the fight, Sakura was a part of it. Plus, the five days out of school would give the students all around a chance to cool off from whatever had caused the fight, preventing retaliations. He also attached the assignments that she would be missing for the week, though he knew that Sasuke and Naruto would both be dropping off once school was over.

While Naruto was back in class, there was no question that Sasuke was helping out his teammate, carrying books and walking him to and from class five minutes before dismissal to avoid the jostling of crowds. With Temari gone, also on OSS, Kankuro and Gaara were huddled together more frequently than ever, and the insomniac redhead was getting more and more testy in class. Given the number of students who had already had to be expelled or suspended, several students were commenting on how teachers seemed to prefer kicking kids out than dealing with whatever issues caused it. On that Kakashi couldn't disagree more, but without knowing the issues, or not having appropriate back up from parents etc, their hands were rather tied.

When F Period came Monday, the Scarecrow was already exhausted and wishing it was Friday. Sasuke and Naruto were waiting at the door, having come up early from their previous class, and Kakashi let them in while Iruka disappeared to make some last minute copies of the test they were having. Once inside, Naruto made himself busy pulling out the neat and precise notes that Sakura had made for him and reviewing them aloud, in a clear manner that he wasn't going to listen to whatever was going on around him.

Curious and slightly amused the English teacher ignored the boys behind him and started putting up the rules for the test on his whiteboard, as usual. He did various miscellaneous things to keep "busy" while Naruto continually went through his notes, out loud, and Sasuke just sort of hovered near Kakashi, clearly wanting to say something.

When the bell rang and the distant roar of students started to rumble down the hall, the dark boy finally cleared his throat. The Scarecrow turned and Sasuke looked up at him, a slightly sullen look on his face, as was usual, before bowing his head ever so slightly.

Kakashi beamed and gestured for him to get back to his seat.

Students started filtering in from all reaches of the building, as they came back from cooking, sewing, computers, and other such specials that they had during E Period. Once the class was settled, the Scarecrow reminded them of the rules of tests in his room (even this late in the year, they needed constant reminding) before Iruka took about half the class over to his room.

As was usual, Kakashi kept filtering around the room, keeping an eye on students he was concerned over, and answering questions from time to time when they appeared. Off in the back corner of the room, however, was Hinata, and the Scarecrow had concerns about her ever since she broke down during the state testing just over two weeks ago (was it really that long?).

With the warmer weather, students had been starting to push the dress code with short-sleeves, tank tops, and very short skirts. Hinata was one of the few, however, that still wore long sleeves. And not just light shirts, but a heavy sweatshirt and bulky pajama pants. While the Hyuga girl was not alone in still wearing such clothing, it seemed... Uncharacteristic. Not only that, but the _hitae-ate_ that Hinata always wore around her neck was currently wrapped snuggly around her left wrist, the carved metal poking out from underneath her sleeve.

It was almost halfway through the class when Kakashi noticed something. He padded silently over to the Hyuga girl and asked her to step outside with him for a moment.

With the class still working silently, Kakashi closed his door and looked down to Hinata, who was pale and shaking.

"Hinata?" he asked gently, trying to radiate comfort and approachability. "Would you please do me a favor?"

"Of course, Kakashi-sensei," she replied meekly.

"Lift your sleeves."

She gave a sound that was between a strangled gasp and a shriek.

"Now, Hinata."

With a stifled snob, Hinata slowly raised the sleeves of her large hooded sweatshirt. On her left wrist was her headband, wrapped firmly around her wrist. The forearm visible was bare and paler than Hinata's cheeks. Her right forearm, however, was covered with pen marks and notes about the unit that he was testing back in his room.

Tears were now starting to stream down Hinata's face and Kakashi sighed. Sometimes his job just sucked.

"I'm going to have to call your parents."

Hinata let out a groan before hiccupping into a sob.

"Come on."

With Hinata trailing behind him, he walked to the corner where Kurenai's science room was and knocked on the door jam. The science class was doing a lab of some kind and the new teacher and a para were circling around, making sure they wouldn't make anything blow up.

Kurenai looked up, noticed Kakashi and the silently sobbing Hinata huddling behind him. She weaved through the groups and stepped outside. She glanced at Hinata and the writing on her arm, and worry creased her brow.

"Kurenai-sensei, would you please contact Hinata's parents?"

The science teacher nodded, her eyes radiating sadness and disappointment. "I'll keep her in here, if that's alright?"

"Of course," the Scarecrow replied.

Hinata rolled her sleeves back down and followed Kurenai back into the science room while Kakashi went back to his classroom. The students hadn't noticed his disappearance, but he kept walking around to reinforce the fact that he was watching and to not try anything stupid. The only students who seemed to notice his change in demeanor were Naruto and Sasuke. Kiba, however, was glaring at the English teacher and glancing back at Hinata's empty seat. Shino, similarly, would glance at the chair in the back corner of the room with concern visible on his spectacled face.

Naturally, at the end of class, Kakashi had a few students at his desk, demanding answers.

"Where'd Hinata go?" Kiba growled. "She studied hard for this and you remove her half way through?" Beside him, Shino merely looked down at the English teacher, frowning.

Kakashi sat back, feeling awful. Hinata was an incredibly sweet girl, if very worried and timid. He didn't want her in trouble for any reason, but he couldn't just let this slide and say, "It's okay to cheat." But the problem was with her parents. The Scarecrow and his team had worked very hard to let Hinata know that they were proud of her, no matter what she did. But with all the pressure to maintain Neji's level of excellence and feeling she had no other recourse thanks to Kankuro planting the bug in here ear during the state tests, it was really no wonder that she finally crumpled to cheating.

He rubbed his visible eye and looked sadly up to her teammates. "I took her to see Kurenai-sensei. Beyond that, it isn't my place to say."

Kiba growled something profane and Kakashi pretended not to hear it as Shino took his friend by the shoulder and led them out of the room, no doubt to see Kurenai. Naruto walked up to his desk, Sasuke standing slightly behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Are you okay?"

The Scarecrow paused. There was no question that he adored his Team 7, but he had to be careful that he wasn't crossing boundaries.

"No, Naruto. I'm not. But--"

"Is it because of Hinata-chan?"

Astute. "In part. However--"

"What happened to her?"

Now Kakashi leveled a semi-glare at the blond student. "I'll tell you what I told her teammates. It's not my place to say. If you're worried about her, ask her."

"Sensei!" Naruto whined.

"I'm not holding your books forever. Come on, dobe."

"Teme!"

* * *

The following day, Kakashi's homeroom felt very empty. Sakura was still on OSS and would be for the whole week. Naruto and Sasuke had still came over the previous day to talk and laugh, but Naruto wouldn't be coming in until E Period today. Yondaime had left an email in Kakashi's inbox about a doctor's appointment that morning, just to ensure that the blond knucklehead was still doing well. So Sasuke had stayed in his own homeroom that morning. Hinata, though usually very quiet was nearly silent. She only spoke to Kakashi once, to ask to go to Kurenai's room. Mere moments later, Kiba followed.

The Scarecrow was dreading E Period. Normally, it was his favorite part of the day, since it was Team Time. However today, Hinata's parents were coming in to discuss her cheating and what to do about it. (In other words, start dictating how teachers should teach, what they'd do to apply more pressure on their daughter, etc.) Kurenai had insisted that the whole team be there and Kakashi knew he was going to have to keep a tight lid on his temper. With the Hyuga already after his job, he couldn't afford to give them any more ammunition.

The day seemed to be a strange combination of speeding by too fast, and slow as molasses. One moment, the Scarecrow was certain that time had slowed to a crawl to prolong the horrid wait until E Period, the next, he couldn't believe he was already in SSR and that next period he'd be facing off with the Hyuga clan.

In fact, it was during SSR that he got a call.

"Kakashi?"

"Tsunade-sama? Well, this is a surprise. You coming to the shindig next period?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm calling about Shiori."

"Oh?"

"She won't be in school for the remainder of the year."

Kakashi's voice dropped an octave. "Oh?"

"She's pregnant."

It was like a ballistic missile had struck his back and he didn't see it coming.

"... What?"

"She's currently crying in my office. Took one of those tests at home over the weekend and wanted me to confirm it. Her mother's with her now. If they're pulling her from school, then she's not going to have an abortion. Whether they keep it with all the other mouths to feed in that apartment or give it up for adoption, I don't know."

"She's only twelve."

"And all the parts are in working order, apparently."

"Can she even keep to term?"

"Probably not. I'll bet she'll have a miscarriage over the summer."

"Does she know...?"

"The father? I think so, but she's not speaking up."

Vacation? Where are you, vacation?

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

She hung up. Were there any more bombshells to explode? Really, where were they? Kakashi just wanted them to all explode at once, then he could deal with the fallout and not have to worry about setting another one off. There was also the undeniable feeling that something was coming, but Kakashi really couldn't dwell on that at the moment.

Putting down his phone, checking to ensure that his pretend-readers were all occupied with something else, Kakashi let himself have a small moment as he sank forward and put his head on his desk. He needed a damn vacation. _Now_.

The Scarecrow didn't notice Sasuke glance back at him.

Taking a deep breath, he sat back up and went back to reading his book. It was the only escape he had at the moment.

* * *

Kakashi knew he couldn't stomach lunch, so when SSR ended, he went right down to the guidance office and sat down in the conference room where their meeting would be held. It wouldn't be the first day he'd been without the midday meal and he doubted it would be the last. Besides, with his reputation for forever being late, and the Hyuga anxious to find some reason to have him fired, he wasn't going give them the opportunity to add something to their list of Why-Kakashi-Shouldn't-Be-Working.

In front of him, he reviewed (even though he already knew them by heart) Hinata's grades and various notes on her behavior. With any luck, Kakashi wouldn't have to speak; thereby preventing any fireworks, but he would be prepared. Just in case.

He waited there through first lunch, and one by one, his team arrived. Each, like him, bore folders with the latest up-to-date grades for the timid girl. As they arrived, he told them about Shiori and agreed with their various looks of shock.

Just as second lunch started, the Hyuga arrived. Both parents bore stern looks, as did Hinata's aunt and grandparents. Kakashi felt a shiver go down his spine. Hinata was going to be facing a firing squad about her cheating the previous day. Not just her teachers but it looked like her whole clan was there. Everyone shook hands (Kakashi noted that several Hyuga snubbed him, but he could care less) as Hinata and, oddly enough, Neji arrived.

"Hinata," Kurenai asked gently. "Aren't you going to have any lunch?"

Hinata said nothing, looking down at her hands.

"She ate with me in first lunch," Neji replied coolly.

And Neji, no doubt, either ignored her or had a lot to say. Kakashi really wasn't that fond of the family right now. But he held his tongue. Since Kurenai had the most contact with Hinata's family, she would be leading the discussion. Everyone would offer bits where they felt it necessary and all agreed that the Scarecrow add as little as possible.

"Very well," Kurenai started, but was quickly cut off.

"What's this I hear about my daughter cheating?" Hinata's father, Hiashi demanded.

The science teacher would not be deterred, however. "If you will be so kind as to give me a moment," Kurenai replied sweetly, "all will be explained."

Hiashi nodded, but sent a scathing look to his daughter. Hinata flinched.

"We are here to discuss a few very important things. For starters," Kurenai looked to the timid and frightened girl, and smiled warmly, "all of us believe that Hinata has been putting forth her best effort since day one. I've worked with her after school and watched her work hard on every assignment. I've seen her struggle with concepts and then light up when she understands them. Your daughter, Hyuga-san, is a very, very bright girl."

"Then why--"

"Please," Kurenai interjected. "However, despite her aptitude, her grades, especially on tests and quizzes, fail to reflect her sharp mind and determined spirit. We feel that she suffers from test anxiety, and since it has been undiagnosed for so long--"

"Our daughter has no such condition," Hiashi snapped. "She just doesn't listen. She doesn't work hard enough." He glared at Kakashi. "And I think that the teammates she has might be the cause of it."

Kakashi was prepared for that, however, and wordlessly handed a file to Kurenai. "I beg to differ," she replied calmly, glancing at the file and picking up on the Scarecrow's intended words. "Both Kiba and Shino are doing remarkably well in all their classes. Shino is maintaining an A average in English and Science,"

"An A- in math," Asuma added.

"And another A in social studies," Gai nodded.

"And Kiba has a B in English, a B- in science,"

"An A- in social studies."

"And a B- in math."

Hiashi turned to his daughter, where she was looking down at the table, tracing patterns in the peeling wood with her fingertips. "So you have the lowest grades of your team?" he whispered harshly.

"In tests," Kurenai interjected again, "yes. However, in her assignments, she is able to maintain a solid B- across the board. It's tests and quizzes that bring down her grades and we believe that, with the test anxiety, she feels a great deal of pressure to--"

"Have you not been listening to me," Hiashi spoke harshly to Hinata. "Have I raised a _failure_?" He reached over and grabbed Hinata's wrist, pulling it away from the tracing she was doing. The timid girl let out a small cry. "Look at me when--"

Kurenai, however, had silenced everyone when she suddenly stood up so quickly her chair toppled backwards.

Kakashi glanced sharply at the science teacher. This wasn't the first parent-teacher meeting she'd been to. She'd been watching him handle such meetings all year, and given her interactions with the Hyuga, she was the best choice to lead this meeting. But her current behavior had him wondering.

"What now?" Hiashi growled.

"Hinata," Kurenai whispered. "Not you... You wouldn't..."

"What are you talking about? Can we get on with--"

"Hinata," Kurenai whispered again. "Lift your sleeves."

Tears welling in her eyes, she did so, revealing her pale arms and headband-wrapped wrist.

"Now," the science teacher gulped. "Take of your _hitae-ate._"

Hinata took a sharp breath and shook her head violently. "No," she whispered.

"Just do it," Hiashi ordered. "Get the foolishness over and done with so we can get back to this report of you cheating."

The girl was still shaking her head violently and Kakashi felt ice pouring down his spine and into his bloodstream. _No_...

"Take it off, Hinata," Kakashi said quietly. "Kurenai-sensei knows. I think I know. You can't hide it forever."

Sobs were escaping Hinata now, her arms still on the table as she shook her head, continuously whispering "no" between hitched breaths.

"Oh, for goodness's sake," Hiashi growled. He reached out roughly, untied the knot, prompting Hinata to let out a small wail, and ripped off the headband they'd sold back in November.

Kakashi's mouth thinned to a grim line. Hinata's left wrist was paler than the rest of her, and lined with scars. Red crisscrossing marks left, no doubt, by a small knife or razor blade, all along the veins. Most were perpendicular, going from one side of her wrist to another, but there were two that Kakashi could see were parallel, going from the base of her hand towards her elbow. All the scars were an angry red, few of them healed enough to form the white tissue of scarring.

Self-mutilation. Self-Harm. Cutting. Whatever the phrasing, Hinata was an avid practitioner it seemed.

All at once, Kakashi's rage boiled up as he calmly stood. Turned a cold eye, he looked around the room. Neiji, he noted, was incredibly pale and steadfastly not looking at Hinata's wrist, instead, staring at Gai. Hinata's father was looking at her wrist in open mouthed shock while his wife started to cry quietly beside him, leaning onto his shoulder to hide. Neji's mother was holding his hand, also looking at Hinata in shock, and the Hyuga grandparents were looking grimly at their granddaughter. Kakashi didn't bother to look at his team, instead boring his frozen eyes at Hinata's shocked father.

"Are you happy now?" he said coldly, before storming out of the room to avoid letting his hot rage explode.

Back in January, when Kakashi had walked in to see those horrid words marring his whiteboard, the student body had seen him angry for the first time ever. His team, over the years, had seen him angry on very, very rare occasions. The faculty at large, however, had never seen it.

He stormed through the guidance office, his rage radiating off him and making the secretaries flinch and in one case, cower. Ignoring the shut door, Kakashi barged right into Jiraiya's office, where a small fifth grader yelped and ducked her head under her arms.

"Hey!" Jiraiya bellowed, "You know how to knock!"

Kakashi was still shaking with rage. He was only barely aware of another child in the room, but it was enough for him to slip into sign language quickly, explaining that he was needed in the conference room and why.

When Jiraiya saw Kakashi sign that Hinata was cutting, he hissed in a breath and nodded.

"Now, _out_!" he growled. "You're scaring my student."

Grappling in his fury, Kakashi took a very deep breath and knelt down to the terrified fifth-grade girl. It was shaky, but he managed to radiate a friendly attitude. Still scared stiff, the child peaked out from her elbows.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," the Scarecrow said, forcing a semi-cheery smile onto his face. "Please forgive me."

She just barely nodded and Kakashi left, letting his rage consume him again as he left guidance and pounded down the halls. Seventh grade lunch would be over by now, so the English teacher mentally pulled up various conversations he'd overheard with his knowledge of student schedules in order to start looking for the students he needed to find.

His first stop was at the art room. He paused outside the door and took a deep breath. As much as he was ready to make heads roll, he couldn't let his anger get the better of him. Another deep breathe.

Walking inside, he saw Shino with the art teacher. Weaving easily through the high art tables and the stools the students were sitting in, Kakashi politely greeted the art teacher. "I beg your pardon, but I need to borrow Shino for a while."

The spectacled boy looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Very well," the old art teacher replied, running a hand over his bald head. "He just finished his project and is free."

"Good," Kakashi nodded. "Come along, Shino."

"Do I need my things?"

"You can get them later." Of course when was a question mark right now, but he didn't need to know that. Kakashi maintained his long quick strides with Shino almost half jogging to keep up. They next went around to the music room. There, Kakashi collected Kiba in a similar manner. With the Hinata's two teammates hurrying to keep up, the Scarecrow went to his last stop hidden in the back corner of the building where there was a small carpentry shop to give students the basics of woodworking.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto saw him as he came in and smiled. "I just got in, did you come to visit? I'll see you next period!"

"No, Naruto, I'm afraid that I need you."

"Huh?"

Kakashi turned to the teacher, who was a substitute. "May I borrow Naruto for a while?"

"Please," the sub smiled weakly.

With the three students in tow, Kakashi made his way to the front of the building, ignoring their questions on where they were going and what was up.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Naruto whined.

"Why's _he_ gotta come with us," Kiba growled.

At guidance, Kakashi went straight for the secretary, who paled when she saw him approach. Thankfully he wasn't a walking inferno like when he'd first exploded out of the conference room.

"Is she still here, or is she with Tsunade-sama?" he asked.

"Actually, Tsunade-sama is with her now in the conference room."

"Do you have a free room at the moment?"

"Just Jiraiya-sama's room. He's in there as well."

Kakashi turned to the three students he'd collected. "Wait in Jiraiya-sama's office for a moment."

"Sure, but--"

"Now."

"Yes, sensei."

With another deep and calming breath. He walked casually back into the conference room. The room was far more active than when he'd left. Tsunade was packing up her emergency bag and Hinata now had a crisp white bandage wrapped around her scarred wrist. The Hyuga girl was ignoring the circus around her, just sobbing quietly.

Iruka was already talking about classifying Hinata as 504, since she was clearly a special needs student, but the Hyuga were not listening and instead trying to grill Kurenai on why she hadn't called them about their daughters practices, why she hadn't informed anyone, and if she didn't know, why didn't she catch it earlier. Kurenai was still white-faced and not able to answer, being unprepared for such a revelation. Instead, Asuma was jumping in to defend her while Jiraiya tried to talk sense to Hinata's mother, who seemed to be stuck in shock. Gai was also trying to defend his colleague as well as Kakashi, who the grandparents were trying to say all sorts of things about.

It was all very chaotic, and something that the poor, terrified, crying Hyuga girl didn't need.

Nodding at Tsunade, Kakashi and the nurse gently prodded the bandaged girl out of her chair and out of the room without anyone other than Asuma and Gai noticing. In the guidance office, Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya's office, where she could see three very concerned faces poking out. She looked to Kakashi and nodded.

"My office as soon as you can."

"Of course."

He led Hinata into Jiraiya's office, where she took the old guidance counselor's comfy swivel chair, still sobbing quietly.

"Hinata..." Shino whispered, his eyes, and everyone else's, on the bandage encircling her wrist.

The timid girl finally looked up, taking in her surroundings for the first time. She gasped and hurried to pull down her sleeves and hide behind her bulky hooded sweatshirt.

"Hinata," Kakashi stated quietly, "look around you."

She shook her head, putting her hands over her ears.

"You _aren't_ alone, Hinata," Kakashi continued, aware that he was pitching his voice so that she could still hear him. "I'd have Sakura here as well, but she couldn't make it. You have friends. Kiba, Shino, Naruto, Sakura, they're all there for you. You just have to ask."

Hinata shook her head again.

"Have they ever pressured you? Have they ever told you that you're not good enough? Have they ever let you down?"

"Of course not!" Kiba and Naruto growled in unison before glaring at each other and looking away.

"I'm not saying that family isn't important. The fact that you have one is a blessing and that they want you to succeed is all very good. But they can't live through you. You have other people that can support you when your family might not be able to. Haven't you been a support for Kiba and Shino? Well, they can support you too."

"Believe it!" Naruto shouted, before leaning forward and engulfing Hinata on into one of the hugs that he did so often with Sakura and Sasuke.

"Hey! Don't get in there before me!" Kiba barked, also wrapping his arms around the blushing girl.

"...Indeed," Shino agreed, joining the hug-pile. "You've got us. We don't care about your grades."

"Yeah, and what do they measure anyway?" Kiba said. "How well you take a test? Well screw that."

Naruto, who didn't really know what Hinata's home-life was like, only gave an extra squeeze. "You don't have to hurt yourself," he mumbled. "There's always a way."

Finally, Hinata's sobs became great wails as the dam she'd only barely held onto broke. All of her worries and fears poured out as she tried to explain herself in choked sobs and hiccupped breaths.

"It was the only thing I had any control over!" She shuddered in the middle of all the hugs. "It was the only way to stop the pain!"

She continued to wail and cry hysterically, and Kakashi felt it best to give them a moment of privacy. He shut Jiraiya's door behind him and noticed Gai, standing outside of the conference room, with an incredibly pale Neji in front of him. Kakashi let his finely-tuned hearing eavesdrop.

"...Gai-sensei," Neji said in a low voice. "I didn't... I mean, she never..."

The Green Beast nodded solemnly. "Of course you wouldn't know," he replied. "Those who resort to self-injury have so much shame. They are also aware that what they are doing is wrong and are further shamed that they can't stop doing it. Hinata would never let anyone know."

"But..."

"Neji, do you understand why she did it?"

"I..."

"Do you?"

Neji looked down. "My mother is always talking about how her grades aren't up to snuff. They've tried to have me help her at home from time to time, but..."

"You are not a part of her everyday life. You couldn't have known."

Neji just stared at the carpeted floor.

"But there is something you can do for her now."

The older Hyuga child glanced up.

"Be there for her. She feels alone. While my eternal rival has just set up a support system for her within her own grade, she needs support when she comes home as well. What will happen in there, or the results, I cannot predict. But _you_ Neji, don't have to be part of what we adults must do. You can, instead, do what you can from the level of a student."

Neji said nothing and just stood there.

Kakashi waited by Jiraiya's room, where Hinata could still be heard sobbing.

Finally, with a stiffening of his spine, Neji spun around and went straight into Jiraiya's office. At first, Kakashi listened to the protests of Naruto, Kiba, and Shino. But after a few low tones from Neji, they boys quieted and all that was left was Hinata's slow sobs.

Catching Kakashi's eye, Gai gave a thumb's up.

* * *

Hinata was kept home Wednesday and Thursday, making Kakashi's homeroom seem even emptier. Sasuke was no longer helping Naruto between classes, and the bandage had shrunk in size. Kiba and Shino were seen frequently within Kurenai's company.

The week had more interesting items to throw at him, naturally. Ryoko, a decent girl, had gotten into a fight with Maname at a baseball game after school Wednesday, and the student rumor mill had heard that Shiori was pregnant and were theorizing on who the father was. Gratefully, the grapevine hadn't gotten word of Hinata, but given how quiet she was, Kakashi wasn't surprised.

When Friday came around, Kakashi was making his rounds in his classes, especially with certain students to make sure they were all right over vacation. F Period, the Scarecrow found out a few interesting tidbits. He'd given a journal assignment, and the students were to write about what they'd be doing on vacation. From there, he took great pleasure in reading over the student's shoulders.

From Naruto and Sasuke's journal entries, he learned that Sakura, it seemed, was going away with her family to sunny Florida, and after much insistence, was taking Naruto and Sasuke along as well. After hearing about Hinata, she was also trying to get the timid girl to go along as well, but it didn't work out. Because, according to Hinata's journal entry, she was going skiing with her family, and Neiji seemed to be hovering near her more often at home.

Kiba's journal entry was filled with a basic itinerary of jobs he'd probably try and do to help his father out, since he'd been forbidden to do any such work during a school day. Shino would help out from time to time, but his vacation seemed to be all about going to the library to read.

Shikamaru was very glad that he had vacation, because he was going to be visiting Chouji every day. With his chubby friend due to come back to school in a few weeks Shikamaru was ecstatic, and bringing everything he could to help catch Chouji up. This apparently included Ino, as she complained in her journal, because Shikamaru wanted them to work on their teamwork so as to avoid any rocky adjustments that might occur. But Shikamaru was being very lazy about it all and leaving it up to her and Chouji to figure out how they worked together.

Temari's grandmother was making her work in the family store throughout vacation, and Kankuro was likely to be alone for most of the week. Gaara, from the tiny paragraph he wrote, seemed to be glad he'd be able to spend time with Yashamaru, but was doubtful that it would occur.

Kakashi continued to wander around the room, reading and smiling. Most of the students in this class would be fine for nine days. Iruka had already filed the paperwork to make Hinata a 504 student; she was in counseling at school and her parents were joining her in seeing a family therapist.

All in all, it had been a crazy and chaotic week, and the Scarecrow was very, very glad that vacation was finally there.

When the last bell rang, students flooded out the doors to either walk or get on the bus, since there were no after school activities. There was an announcement that there was to be a faculty meeting in room 304, but since that room didn't exist, it was code that the teachers could leave with the kids instead of staying to the contracted time.

Kakashi tidied up his room, set out the packets he'd be using when they got back, and did various miscellaneous things. He noticed that Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were still in Kurenai's room and her "worry-free" basket was by the door. Smiling to himself, he walked out the doors and headed to his car in the far corner of the parking lot.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Surprised to hear that voice, the English teacher turned to see Sakura, smiling brightly, with Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her. The blond was beaming and Sasuke was distinctly looking away. Behind them were Sakura's parents, also smiling.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Sensei," Naruto all but shouted. "We're taking you out to dinner!"

The Scarecrow stood there for a few minutes while he tried to parse the words.

"Excuse me?"

Sasuke was definitely looking anywhere but him.

"Well," Sakura's mother smiled, "I know that you've done a lot for our daughter, and we'd like to thank you."

The father glanced knowingly at Sasuke. "We've heard that you've had a rather rough week. And the kids here all put their resources together and came up with enough money to take you out to eat."

"Of course," said another voice and Kakashi turned to see Yondaime coming up to them, "we didn't think it'd be okay for them to take you alone, so we decided to tag along."

Kakashi smiled brightly.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** No, Hinata was NEVER suicidal. Cutting is not the same as being suicidal. The reasons Hinata gave for cutting are probably the most common. (shudder) Writing the reveal for Hinata sent chills down my spine and it was difficult to read through for typos. I have an easier time reading it now, as does Image, but it is still an emotional scene. Again, we feel that it comes off as very muted because we haven't come from the student's point of view. A lot of this story happens off screen and Kakashi and his team have to deal with it when it explodes onto the scene like this.

Some of the terminology might be confusing in this chapter, particularly with the reference to "504". "504" is a section on one of many educational laws set forth by Congress, stating that students who have "special needs" need specialized services. Most special needs are disabilities that people think of like mental retardation, ADHD, needing a wheelchair. However, you can end up as a 504 student temperarily if you have a broken leg/arm, become pregnant, or, like Hinata, need counseling. All it means is that the school has to accomidate your needs. If you're stuck on crutches, that means having an elevator so that you don't have to navigate stairs, or letting you leave early from class to get to the next class without being trampled by the crowds, etc.

Yes, teachers can need a vacation as desperately as the students. Considering the crisis-after-crisis that Kakashi-tachi have been through for the past few weeks, vacation would be sorely needed at this point.

For those concerned about students taking a teacher out to eat, that's why the parents are there. Plus, if you're in a community long enough, you might actually know the parents as friends and go out with them from time to time. This is a little fast for Kakashi to become friends with the Haruno's and Yondaime, but Kakashi needed a bright spot after all this.

**BlackRoseofKonoha**: No, last week was a full five days. Monday was the theft, Wednesday was the head knocking, Thursday or Friday was the catfight, if I recall correctly. Of course, you as readers reacted more to Sasuke-kun finally blowing off some steam. Of course, what Kakashi was sensing in this chapter hasn't happened yet either...

**Sarimia**: We're glad we've helped you see things differently. As we've said many times, that was one of the purposes of this story. Speaking as a teacher, when you get to a day before a week long vacation, trying to have students do work can be an impossible task. So an easy day can be just as much for the teachers as much as for the students. Yes, substituting. Been there, done that. I hate it when I'm called in the middle of a class and told I have to cover another class at the other end of the building during my ONE period of freedom. I'm always late, I never know the lesson plans, and the kids have had time to go crazy while I'm trying to set up and find class lists etc. Image has gone through the same thing. Tack on kids getting (and hating) their grades? Yes, I can see what a nightmare it would be.

**Dochii**: Thank you for the link, but it doesn't seem to work. 6.0 Well, here was Hinata's arc. Hope it was appropriately bloody enough (even if any actually bleeding occured off screen).

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: People seem shocked that Sasuke finally blew off some steam. Seriously, we doubt he's in such tight control of his emotions 24/7. In the anime, he's able to channel his anger and frustrations through training and fighting. And even with that, he sees red when he faces off with Itachi and he's growled any number of times in annoyance at either Sakura or Naruto. Plus, he got quite irritated with Naruto when facing off with him in the Valley of the End. Is it so impossible to see him getting so angry when the two most important people to him, Naruto and Sakura, are out of his life for a while due to unfair circumstances? Meh. Ah well. I guess we should probably call Sasuke OOC then. No, we're not ahead yet. It was posted right so that the first week of April was happening for the first week of April. We're starting the second week of April this week, so we're posting the second week of April. Since next week is vacation, we'll be on vacation. Fourth week with the end of April. (Yes, we have put that much thought into how to post this story. We're pathetic.)

**Uchiha Sakuya**: Spring break, since there won't be any student interaction, will be mentioned in passing, the same way Christmas and February break were. We're glad you liked Sasuke with last week's chapter. More people seemed to notice the little brooder than Naruto and Yondaime swearing at each other. .'' We thought that was funny.

**Jill Bioskop**: Yes, the idea of thinking in extremes which is so common. What Naruto did was not go to the authorities, but take matters into his own hands. Why? Because it was the first course of action that came to mind, so he followed through on it. And, because he was so proud, he proclaimed from on high how he got a reward, not thinking that keeping this quiet might be better at remaining anonymous. (Of course, Naruto and quiet don't get along too well in any case...) As you can see, we worked with Hinata this week. Hope you liked. As far as not touching blood: Every teacher, all over the country, MUST watch the SAME blood pathogens video EVERY year before the school year starts. It's an old video from the 80s on why you must NEVER under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES touch a bleeding student. There are several blood diseases, risks, symptoms, etc, and that since the students themselves may not even know if they have it, to avoid risk you DON'T touch blood. Kakashi, after his time overseas, rather ignored it last week. We're glad Kakashi's talk with Sasuke touched you. Our little brooder is learning, but it takes time. This was just another teaching opportunity for Kakashi to show Sasuke where true strength is.

Thanks everyone. See you in two weeks. Next chapter: Why silence is so scary.


	31. Week 30

**April: Week Thirty-One**

* * *

The primary word for the vacation was: sleep.

Kakashi didn't really remember much of the week off other than sleeping. He would go to bed somewhere around nine to get up eleven or twelve hours later. Given that he'd been prone to losing sleep because of various and numerous students that worried him, it was nice to put a dent on all the hours he'd lost since, oh, January.

The second word that described his vacation was: memorial. He went to it three times, one for each dearly departed member he'd loved and lost, reaffirming himself, reminding himself of his promises and needs. The hours he spend there were painful, hard to go through, but at the same time he felt stronger for it, better for it.

On his second trip he'd run across Iruka, who'd come to visit his recently passed mother, and they'd made an afternoon of it. Iruka didn't particularly want to repeat the previous scenario at a bar, but the two of them ended up having both lunch and dinner together because they'd spent so many hours talking at a restaurant.

So, on Monday morning when he wandered into the building, there was a noticeable skip in his step and brightness about him.

It sapped out of his body in four steps.

That feeling was there, still, that something big, something dark, was going to happen, was _about_ to happen. He found himself scanning the student body as they flittered back and forth, doing a threat assessment and tactical analysis. Shaking his head when he realized what he was doing, he made a beeline to Gai's room.

"Ah! Kakashi, my rival! To what do I owe the rare honor of your gracing your presence on me before--"

"Something's up," he said. It was a testament of the feeling he was getting that he didn't bother to listen to Gai's longwinded and flowery speeches. "I don't know what, I don't know when, but I feel it. Something's going to happen. Big. Bad."

Gai immediately sobered. "How do you know?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi tried to explain. "I just _feel_ it. Whatever it is isn't going to be pretty."

"I'll let Asuma and Kurenai know."

"I'll pass word to Iruka."

The two disbanded from the room and the English teacher walked three steps to his special education teacher's room, ignoring the various students who vied for his attention. He quickly explained his dark perceptions. Iruka frowned, skeptical.

"Look," the Scarecrow finally said, "Every time it happens, every time, I'm right. Something is going to happen."

"I don't doubt you, Kakashi," Iruka said slowly. "I just don't know what to prepare for."

"Prepare for the worst."

* * *

That said, nothing happened for three days. Iruka and Kurenai in particular were having a hard time believing it all, but seeing Gai and Asuma - who had seen these premonitions come true time and again - still on edge and eyeing the student body kept them alert.

Thursday was when it happened.

During SSR, Kakashi putting up a pretense of reading (a fact that his book was complaining about loudly) as he kept sweeping his eyes over the class, not knowing what to expect but not willing to let his guard down, he saw the red head of Gaara pass by his room and enter Gai's room, Iruka close behind. He glanced back to his book and managed to read two whole pages before,

"Bullshit!!"

The entire class looked up to see Gaara there, at a desk, rocking back and forth. Iruka was there, bending over, trying to coax him out of his chair. "Come on Gaara, let's go back to class, alright?"

"This is fucking bullshit," the boy muttered, staring at nothing. "It's all fucking bullshit."

Kakashi stood up, walking over. "What's going on?" he whispered.

Iruka shook his head, lifting his shoulders. Gaara got up roughly, pushing the desk aside, overturning it, and stomped out of the room. Iruka followed, helpless to stop it because of the hands-off policy of the school. All he could do was follow and try to coax the child back to an isolated classroom; he couldn't touch the boy for fear of someone taking it wrong or suing the school for assault. Kakashi followed the pair out of the room, watching them turn the corner towards Asuma's room.

The sad truth was that, at the moment, there was nothing he could do. Gaara was the special education department's charge, and he had a class to man. He gave the class a sweep of his eyes again, looking at their concerned, confused faces, and shrugged his shoulders in reply. Even teachers didn't know everything.

The bell rang fifteen minutes later, and the grade disappeared off to their specials while Kakashi went immediately across the hall. Iruka wasn't there. Walking over to the phone, he picked up the receiver and dialed the isolated classes. Someone picked up, a student it sounded like, and the teacher, when she finally got on, didn't know where Iruka was. Frowning, he hung up and called guidance. Nobody picked up. He called the office. Shizune said the pair was in the nurse's office, trying to get the child to take his medication.

After hanging up he stared at the phone in Iruka's room for a long time. His mind was working hard; trying to piece together something he wasn't sure he understood. There were warning bells bouncing across his mind, he knew the bad feeling he was having had to do with what was happening now. Signals were firing back and forth in his mind, but they wouldn't connect, wouldn't form anything.

Unable to process it all, he gave up and wandered around the corner to Team. Iruka's wasn't there to pronounce, "You're late!"

"Where is he?" Gai asked as Kakashi was slinking into his chair.

"Gaara was in your rooms too?"

"Hell yeah," Asuma said. "Scared the hell out of my class."

"Mine, too," Kurenai said. "He even scared me. I've never seen him like that before."

"Yes, it was more than his usual mutterings to himself. Our poor gothic youth was shouting out at phantoms we could not see."

"I'm worried," Kakashi said slowly.

They spent the rest of Team Time wondering what was happening, and over all got very little done.

* * *

When the bell rang and the kids filed into their F period classes, Kakashi almost couldn't concentrate on attendance. He only barely started getting through the material when,

"Will the Symtex repairman please call the office."

The students all filed behind his desk quietly while he poked his head outside, saw no one, closed and locked and covered his door, pulled the blinds, shoved out the book shelf and sofa as barriers, and joined the students. He sat between Teams 6 and 9 to prevent any issues to begin with, and looked over at the rest of the class. Team 7 was huddled together; Team 10 right next to them, the boys Kiba and Shino protectively encasing Hinata in their arms. Shikamaru and Ino were also close, Ino once again refusing to sit on the floor because of her white pants.

The lockdown didn't last as long as it had earlier that year, just over half an hour before a pale looking Shizune came through and opened the doors. When Kakashi asked where the old man was, she merely shook her head and said he was busy.

Class was of course shot to hell, no one able to focus on the work because of the lockdown. G period was even worse, the last period of the day and rumors ran through the air. The police were in the building, and there were mutterings that the office was closed - a feat that was unheard of. The Scarecrow squished anybody who talked about it, saying that rumor-mongering didn't do anybody any good. They of course had no idea what that word was, and it was a successful diversion to lead back to class.

There was no Iruka, however.

The bell rang; and he happily threw all the students out of the building, and made a beeline to the office. When he arrived, he could only think of one line.

Silence was oppressive.

The office, a bustling center of activity, filled with noises of phones, calls, students complaining to vice principals, secretaries writing passes, teachers making copies, files being opened and closed, drawers being searched through, etc. But now, there was nothing. No noise, no whisper of activity, nothing.

The atmosphere was not all, the place looked as though a hurricane, perhaps a tornado, had ripped through the walls. The large room was trashed. The half-walls that made the cubicles for secretaries or for students to work were overturned, leaning on desks or flat on the floor. One had a whole punched through it. A fax was in pieces littering the floor amongst the menagerie of posters, papers, copies, and envelopes; to say nothing of the pens, pencils, and other assorted things that are expected in an office. Phones hung by their cords, one desk was completely overturned, and there were dents that looked suspiciously like fists in the wall. It was like something out of a nightmare.

He could only stand there, staring, the silence pressing on him.

Something sparked in his spine, and on their own, his feet started moving. He backed out of the office, casting one last horrified gaze, before backtracking to his corner of the school. He didn't go to his room, he went across the hall to Iruka, and the special education teacher was there, at his desk, head in his hands.

Kakashi closed the door and pulled up a chair. The special education teacher glanced up wearily, his eyes heavy and tired.

"Today was hell," he muttered.

"What happened?"

"You were right. Something was in the water. Gaara went psycho."

Iruka? Using inaccurate vernacular? No, that was unlike him, the statement was completely accurate. And Kakashi was suddenly scared.

"What happened?"

"Something happened over break, I don't know what. But he's been completely silent the entire week, wouldn't even talk when he was aggravated; that's why he was in isolation. Today he finally acted out. You saw him earlier, right?"

"Yeah."

"It gets worse from there. We finally got him to the office, somewhere in lunch I think. We tried to take him to the nurse to take his medication - at least _try_ and attain some kind of rational functioning from him - and he went completely nuts. He tried to lock himself in a room, but someone had their head in the door, so he started to slam the door on him. Then he ran full tilt into the office. Sandaime was there and he had all the doors closed and locked, and he went to town. You've been in there?"

"Yes."

"I've never, ever, _ever_ seen anything like it. He was frothing, screaming, incoherent. I don't know how we were able to get access to the PA or order the lockdown." There was a long pause, Iruka reliving the moments. "The police were finally able to restrain him, and Yashamaru is here, I think.

"He was misdiagnosed, Gaara was, but I don't know how they could have _missed_ it. He had all the signs, and if it weren't for the fact that Yashamaru insisted on waiting until his triennial next year, I would have tested him myself. I've been suspecting this since he overturned the desk a few weeks ago. And his _medication_... no wonder it was causing him problems!"

Kakashi realized that his friend's hands were shaking.

"He's not coming back." It was a statement, not a question.

"He shouldn't have been here in the first place. He should have been in an isolated facility since kindergarten. What was his dad thinking putting him an environment like this?"

"That was the same man the tried to kill him, remember?"

Iruka's head shook in his hands. "Make it go away," he moaned.

The English teacher stood finally and pulled on his friends arm. "Come on," he said quietly, "My couch is waiting."

* * *

After Iruka was settled and the more socially adept Kurenai was thrown in to help him and she and Asuma and Gai were briefed on what happened, he took a deep breath and went back to the office to see if he could find Sandaime.

His timing turned out to be perfect. Gaara's uncle was stepping out of the principal's office, an officer, Ebisu, Orochimaru, and Tsunade also trailing behind. Kakashi quickly leaned against a wall and pulled out his book, opening it up and turning his ears on.

"Yashamaru," the old man was saying. "I understand this is a lot to take in."

"Yes, it is. He's never acted like this before. I don't know what to say other than I'll find a way to pay for the damages."

"As you've said repeatedly. But for this to occur there must have been some kind of trigger. Did something happen, perhaps over vacation, that may have begun this particular reaction?"

"I don't think..." Yashamaru stiffened slightly, his eyes widening as he remembered something. "Oh, Gaara," he whispered. A hand came to his face, hiding it.

Sandaime nodded, apparently satisfied, and he and his entourage dispersed. The old man saw Kakashi loitering and gave a slight nod. Pushing himself off the wall, he followed the principal into his office. Another cop was still there, filling out forms before getting up to join his partner. The English teacher sat down, and saw that Sandaime looked ancient, older than he ever had.

"There are days when I wonder if it's past time I retired," he said slowly, rubbing his pained face with a withered hand.

"Don't even say that kiddingly," Kakashi said, crossing his legs.

"Everyone's time comes eventually."

"Yours isn't for a long time yet."

A natural pause fell between them, and for the first time Kakashi realized how old this beloved leader was. He was Asuma's father, after all, and the Old Man was always so quietly lighthearted one hardly ever noticed his real age. Kakashi felt something between sympathy and empathy for Sandaime, and he suddenly wasn't sure if he should bring anything up.

"You've a very bad habit towards self sacrificing heroism," the old man sighed. "You get it from Obito, I think."

Kakashi unconsciously stiffened.

"I'm really not in the mood for more of it."

The Scarecrow struggled with it, but finally he said, "Iruka's pretty upset by all this."

"We all are, and the torture is not yet over," the principal said. "I'm certain that reporters out circling the building as we speak, and then there's the emergency faculty meeting tomorrow morning where I need to find some way to explain all this."

"His hands are shaking," Kakashi said. "He looks like I did my first year."

Sandaime looked up, gauging the English teacher. "I will talk with him," he said finally.

"Good." Kakashi paused. "Who do you talk to?"

And here the old man actually laughed. "My grandson, Konohamaru," he replied.

And Kakashi felt that he and his team, and the school, _might_ actually survive the school year.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: This is all true. I repeat, this incident is TRUE. We have absolutely no idea if the tone of oppressive silence worked, but the trashed office was just so QUIET after the kid was finally removed. Even coming in hours later, at the end of the school day, with secretaries and custodians working to try and clean up the mess, the office was SILENT. Yes, the kid repeatedly slammed a door on an adult's face, yes, he punched holes through cubicles, smashed fax machines, and basically destroyed the office. The secretary who made the call to lock our doors (a descision we disagree with, since in this chapter there was a lockdown instead), could HEAR the chaos going on next door and was petrified as she made the announcement.

Both of us disagree with just locking the doors once the whole situation was explained. That kid was a danger to the other students, and because of that, a lockdown should have been called. Of course, that school wasn't all that great to begin with, but... Of course, the local newspaper chewed up the school into little pieces, vomited it, then flushed it down the toilet.

This chapter is also an exercise in not explaining everything. We know exactly why Gaara went nuts. Kakashi could have easily eavesdropped on it, but after discussing it, the two of us thought it better for Kakashi to not be all-knowing. There are some things that, as a teacher, you just won't find out. Since the kid was never officially diagnosed, neither of us ever found out what his issues were. Gaara's issues are explained in the story and if you read between the lines, you can piece together what happened to him.

Also, this chapter feels way too short.

**Jill BioSkop**: Hinata needs all the hugs she can get. We're both certain she'd appreciate one from you as well. . And yes, the Hyuuga are going to change. Last week was a wake up call to the extreme, but it will take time to break habits and figure out how to best treat Hinata-chan. Well, as you can see, yes Gaara's arc was next. And quite the little arc he had, ne? Yes, pregnant at 12, the square root of 144 and the fourth root of 20736. (Yes, we're math geeks.) The only requirement for a girl to get pregnant is that she have her menarch (first period). And since those hormonal changes are triggered by the percentage of fat in the body and that girls are getting their menarch earlier and earlier, well. Both of us got our menarchs at 11. "Dating" starts off around fifth and sixth grade, and if Shiori was dating someone older, this is a likely result. Of course, she'll end up miscarrying since she's not physically ready to carry a baby at such a young age. Yes, Neiji's frosty attitude with improve greatly where Hinata is concerned. He'll take Gai's advice to heart and make sure she has a safe haven at home. Hope you enjoyed Gaara's little arc.

**InoShikaCho**: Yes, it's good that it all came out in the open. The Hyuuga needed the wake up call desperately. Things will be awkward at home for a while, but it's a start. After all the quiet suffering Hinata's been doing, she needed a break, ne? whistles Gaara didn't have any violent outbursts recently, huh... glances up whistles Yes, when we get vacation, we give up computers for a while and just do things. This week was mainly yardwork - seeding, chipping, and a lot of dusting/cleaning inside. And sneezing, but spring does that. We hope the wait was worth it for this chapter. Next week marks Chouji's return.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: sighs and shakes head We're sorry you went through that and that somebody felt that... desperate to do that. blink We didn't come of as yelling at you did we? That wasn't our intent at all! We were just shocked at how many people were surprised that Sasuke would act out like that when we see it as in character for this AU. shrugs Actually, we didn't HAVE to do the posting the way that we have. But we had most of the story ready when this school year started so we said, "What the hey?" Of course, being Virgo's we have to be perfectionists about it. :P

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Yes, Hiashi was rather rough with dear little Hinata-chan. You can bet he's paying for it now though.

**VixKill**: Yes, many suicides are accidental, but remember, for Hinata, cutting was about control. Creating means of pain and suffering that she could instigate and stop and have complete management over. From the literature I've read, cutting is very much about making small cuts, letting them bleed a little, then stopping the bleeding and hiding it. This leads to scarring since we're talking repeated cuts over the same area. The same thing happens when you give blood. After a while, you have needle marks from the IV that takes the blood. For suicide, you're talking some seriously large and deep slices, not something that a little razor blade could do easily. For Hinata this was about controlling pain, since she couldn't control her life. shudders This doesn't make it a healthy or condonable habit. Hinata NEEDS help and it will take time to fully recover fom this. Thanks for the hugs. We are very much trying to approach this from a more realistic sense of what goes on in schools. In fanfiction, you won't see something like this, or if you do there's heavy angst, then meet future lover and everything's fine. That is NOT the case. Stories are great for escapism, but your escapism needs reality in it for it to be escapable. (If that makes sense...) We're, uh, glad this is affecting?

**Alisa Mokara**: Hope your senior paper turned out well. . For starters, we hope that you haven't had to resort to that anymore as a means of stress relief and have found other ways to handle pressures. (Reading fanfiction, for example?) We're humbled that we amaze you, though we wish you didn't have to have such an intimate understanding. We won't pry into your life, but we hope you've found alternative means and that things have improved. Gosh, we don't know what to say beyond that. :(

Thank you all for reading. Next week, the hazards of busing.


	32. Week 31

**May: Week Thirty-Two**

* * *

The weekend had proven very out of the ordinary for Kakashi. Saturday had Asuma and Gai kidnapping him from his doorstep. The three then proceeded to kidnap Kurenai and go to the supermarket for a bottle of really good wine. Then the four teammates appeared on Iruka's doorstep and proceeded to give him a weekend that he wouldn't soon forget. Kakashi himself had stayed relatively sober, but Iruka had watched Gai spin around his kitchen singing and dancing with Asuma and Kurenai clapping the beat and singing along. The special education teacher laughed so hard. Kakashi wasn't one to complain. They all ended up staying over, none of them being really clearheaded enough to drive. The following morning left Kakashi as the only one without a headache.

Naturally, he was as loud as he possibly could be as he clanked skillets, slammed cabinet doors, and stomped around the kitchen, making breakfast for his team. They all growled and barked at him, but Kakashi just smiled blithely. Sunday was spent discussing Gaara thoroughly and from every possible angle, and worrying about other various students and how they'd do. It was still worrying, but it was more of a release than the tight hold Iruka was keeping on things. All around, it was a good weekend.

So when Monday morning came around, though things were still rather heavy, the English teacher had a much cheerier outlook on things than he had at the end of Thursday.

Homeroom seemed much cheerier. Team 7 was gathered around his desk, as usual, Hinata and Kiba were talking, and there didn't seem to be much gloom hanging around the room without Gaara. To that, Kakashi had to sigh. Gaara himself wasn't a bad kid, but he needed help beyond what a public school could provide. After the morning announcements finished, Naruto and Sasuke headed back to their homeroom and the Scarecrow couldn't help but feel things were finally getting better for the kids somehow. There were still students he was concerned about, but it was the first week of May. April, bloody as it was, had finished. Just a month and a half of school remained. Things could finally start winding down.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?"

The English teacher looked up, seeing Hinata blushing brightly and staring at the floor. Behind her, Sakura was smiling gently and Kiba was watching over her. The timid Hyuga girl looked much better than she had before vacation. Instead of bulky clothes to hide in, she was in leggings, a knee-length jean skirt, and a modest short sleeve shirt. Her _hitae-ate_ was still wrapped around her wrist, hiding her bandage and scars, but it was the most "open" in appearance that she'd been in all year.

"Yes?"

"I... That is... Um..." she floundered. "... Here." She dropped an envelope on his desk and fled as the bell rang. Sakura chased after the timid girl and Kiba growled something before trotting out of homeroom with the rest of his peers.

The Scarecrow glanced down at the pale lavender envelope and smiled to himself. As students filtered in slowly, still trying to catch up on the latest gossip of the weekend, he opened it and found a small homemade card inside. His smile widened into a broad grin as he read the contents, all proclamations of gratitude towards him and his kindness. With a warm feeling in his chest, Kakashi carefully placed the card back in the decorated envelope and opened a drawer in his file cabinet that he almost never used. He oh-so-carefully placed the card into a leather portfolio that was clearly labeled as "Reminders". Inside the portfolio were other similar cards, photos of students past, and other thank-you items he'd received over the years. It wasn't often he required himself to look at that collection of happy moments in his career, but it was something that he always went through at least once a year.

He would have to bring the folder to Team Time to sort through. Iruka and Kurenai hadn't seen it yet, and he felt like sharing.

Of course, such sharing couldn't occur to just plain old regular lunch, so Kakashi arrived late to E period with his leather bound Reminders and a bag full of Italian take-out. Spaghetti, Italian Sausage, various parmesans, and a lot of garlic bread that had been making his SSR smell divine.

"Why my Eternal Rival, what brings such delightful aromas on this glorious Monday?"

Kakashi pulled his portfolio out from under his arm. "I wanted to relive a few things. And that always requires proper etiquette."

Asuma coughed out a smoker's laugh. "I haven't seen you drag that out for a few years. You usually stare in private."

"Well," the English teacher shrugged. "To each their own."

"What is that?" Kurenai asked, leaning over her helping of veal parmesan.

The Scarecrow glanced down at some of the envelopes and photos spilling out. "Oh this? They key to survival in a poor school system."

"This I gotta hear," Iruka grumbled from his mouthful of garlic bread.

Team time was spent going over memories, sharing stories, and, for the first time in a while, honestly laughing. They only made it through about a quarter of Kakashi's Reminders, and only the more recent additions that Iruka might remember, as well as Hinata's lavender envelope. It was some of the most enjoyable time they'd had together in a while. Nothing got done other than lifting everyone's mood. And, frankly, it was Kakashi's job as team leader to ensure that they were all still doing well.

* * *

During the last period, Kakashi's phone rang. Since Iruka was giving the presentation, he picked up and tossed a crumpled piece of paper onto the desk of a student who wasn't paying attention.

"Yes?"

"Kakashi," Ebisu greeted. "We were short a sub today. Would you mind doing bus duty this afternoon?"

"No problem."

"Good. I'll see you outside after school."

The English teacher thought nothing of it. He'd been on bus duty the previous year, and there wasn't too much to worry about. Keep an eye on the kids; get them on their buses; deal with any fights if it came to it. With Iruka in the room, he'd be able to slip out a moment before the bell and watch as students flooded out of the building. It was part and parcel to what an educator did. He had been on hall duty at various points during the year based on rotations and it was just part of the job.

That day, however, the stars seemed against him.

The Scarecrow was outside and talking with Ebisu about where he'd be needed when his finely tuned military training put him on high alert. The vice-principal noticed the change and, after having worked with Kakashi long enough, understood something was up.

"Excuse me," the English teacher left Ebisu at the main entrance and shifted through the shadows of the buses, letting the whirling of engines mask his footsteps as he ghosted between them. Whenever school let out, there were two rows of what the students referred to as "Twinkies" outside the school, staggered so that students could find their bus.

Kakashi easily slipped through the first row of buses and was covertly looking between the second row, aware of how silly he looked to anyone without military training. Something had set of his concerns, and he wasn't about to ignore it. He maneuvered carefully through the busses, each new open space between the towering yellow vehicles offering a different vantage of the teacher's parking lot. The Scarecrow was almost halfway down the line when he spotted what had spooked his senses.

He raised his walkie-talkie to his mouth.

"Ebisu, have the office call whatever class Sasuke's in and hold him."

"Why?"

"His brother is here."

"Dammit."

But they were too late. The bell rang. Even surrounded by the loud rumbling of the buses, Kakashi could hear the yells of students as they ran to their lockers, or already had what they needed with them and headed out the door. No doubt, Kurenai, the last teacher Sasuke had for the day, would be called, but she'd have to find him in the halls right now. There might not be enough time.

So the Scarecrow stepped out from the second row of buses and made himself visible to the elder Uchiha. The glare he was pinned with was swarming with hatred, but Kakashi wasn't going to let Itachi get within a hundred feet of his little brother. Period. The End. Ebisu would no doubt also be calling authorities, especially if Sasuke's foster parent, Kabuto, had gotten a restraining order. Even if, for some messed up reason, Itachi had visiting rights, (which Kakashi doubted strongly), he was certain they didn't include school.

"You."

"Yo," he replied congenially as the yells of students continued to pour out of the building.

"You can't stop me."

Kakashi grinned, lifting his headband. "I beg to differ. I'm between you and the school. You can't make a move without me getting in your way."

Itachi's eyes narrowed before he glanced at the car he was beside.

Ah, that's what set off Kakashi's senses. The Uchiha had brought back up. An ugly, sharp-toothed muscleman with skin that was tinged bluish. The large brute stepped out of the car. Students filtered pass, unknowing of what was going on as they mounted the steps to the buses or left the parking lot to walk home, or meet parents.

"Kisame would be my witness that you are the one who instigated anything... untoward. Besides, your job is already in jeopardy, is it not? From the Hyuga, I believe."

"Tisk, tisk," Kakashi replied, eyeing both. "You're not exactly up on current events."

"You can't stop both of us."

"I'd heard you were a very bright student, Itachi. You're disappointing me."

Both glared.

"Kisame can go and get Sasuke, or try to. But Sasuke's smart. He wouldn't go anywhere with a stranger. Especially a brute like this."

"Bastard!" the muscle-man hissed, earning a few stares from the students that were walking by. As long as they kept walking by, that was fine for Kakashi. He was sure that CIA rumor about him would be getting new life for this, but as long as the students didn't get involved, all was well.

Until he heard the click and slide of a window on the bus behind him open.

"Kakashi-sensei! What was our homework for tonight?" Genjimaru called down.

The Scarecrow kept his back to the bus. "Check with your team," he pitched his voice to carry behind him.

"But they're on different buses."

"Then call them when you get home."

"But sensei!"

"Call your team," Kakashi repeated, eyeing Itachi's grin warily.

"Yes, sensei."

Itachi whispered something to his companion and the sharp-toothed brute nodded, a sick smile sliding onto his lips.

"I say again. You can't stop me."

And with that, Kisame lunged forward, slamming Kakashi onto Genjimaru's bus, making the students who had seen it scream. Itachi sped past, but the Scarecrow, nimble and flexible, reached out, grabbed the older Uchiha's arm and spun the man back. He broke Kisame's hold on him easily, shoving him away and took a defensive stance between the two intruders and the children behind him.

He really was going to lose his job over this. A teacher in a fistfight with a student's sibling? The reporters were going to lap this up.

Kakashi hazarded a glance to his watch. He still had ten minutes before the buses left and that was assuming Ebisu didn't try to initiate a lockdown and muck things up. The one thing going in the Scarecrow's favor was that he'd had plenty of training in how to fight. (Those CIA rumors about him were about to get more interesting, that was for sure.) Kisame appeared to be the basic brute-force approach and while Itachi definitely had the muscle to beat up a little boy, how would he be against a trained martial artist?

The two-on-one wasn't too bad at first. Itachi kept hanging back to slip by, but the Scarecrow was too fast and would send the older Uchiha back. Kisame's punches and kicks were strong, but Kakahsi had faced much worse oversees. Around him, he could hear students screaming and crying; some were calling out "pointers" to him and at one point he was certain he heard Hanamaru's voice placing bets. (He was so getting written up for that...)

This couldn't last forever, however, and with one last roundhouse kick, the Scarecrow finally felled the brute, leaving him winded and dizzy on the pavement. Kakashi maintained his defensive stance as Itachi looked on impassively. The Scarecrow hadn't even broken a sweat taking down Kisame, his military training coming in handy.

"Is that the bastard!"

"Naruto! No!"

In one horrifying moment, Kakashi watched Naruto appear from between the rumbling buses, Sakura behind him, trying to grab his shirt. Sasuke wasn't anywhere to be seen (hopefully tied up by Kurenai). The hyperactive knucklehead lunged at Itachi, the man who had abused Naruto's teammate, Sakura trying to keep him back where it was safe.

In the older Uchiha's hands, the Scarecrow saw a glint. Without thinking, the Scarecrow dove on top of Naruto, feeling something pierce his shoulder as he rolled, getting his student out of harm's way.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed. "Kakashi-sensei!" Then after a pause. "SASUKE!!"

The Scarecrow ignored his shoulder, stood and dashed to where both Uchiha were struggling. In Itachi's hand was a bloody knife and Sasuke had wrapped himself around that arm, yanking and tugging, growling in a feral manner, his eyes murderous. With his good shoulder, the Scarecrow plowed into Itachi's chest, shocking him enough to release the knife that Sasuke grabbed.

"Sasuke," Kakashi commanded, harkening back to his days in that hot desert sun, "your team."

The twelve-year-old was shaking, glaring at his brother, but nodded and ran back to Sakura, who had pulled off her jacket and was using a sleeve to wipe blood off of Naruto's scratched cheek.

The Scarecrow resumed his defensive stance, ignoring the screaming and crying of students around him and above him in the buses.

"What now?" he asked. "I'm still between you and Sasuke. You have no students to hold hostage, and you're smart enough to know that it'd be a stupid ploy since the police are no doubt on their way."

Itachi glared.

"Sensei!" Sakura screamed. "Behind you!!"

Kakashi turned to see Kisame looming behind him, both fists held together high above his head to pommel him. The Scarecrow easily caught the fists and used the momentum to roll onto his back, shove his legs up, and flip the large brute over him towards Itachi. He leapt back up to his feet nimbly and resumed his defensive stance, vaguely wondering where the rest of the faculty was. Or at least security. Where was Ibiki?

"I'm still between the two of you," Kakashi repeated, his shoulder stinging like crazy. "You won't touch _any_ of my students."

"For even if one falls, another guardian of youth will stand," Gai stated, appearing on Kakashi's right.

"Because it's our job to keep our students safe," Asuma agreed on Kakashi's left.

"And together, you have no chance," Kurenai finished, beside Asuma.

Behind them, Kakashi could hear Iruka with Team 7, talking quietly over the rumble of buses to the upset team. Finally, in the distance, sirens were heard.

Itachi glared. Even as the police put him and Kisame in handcuffs.

The rest of the afternoon was a circus. The students were taken off the buses and into the school to be interviewed on what they saw and give statements, as well as faculty, administration, and parents who were still on in the parking lot. Tsunade looked after Naruto who only had scrapes and bumps from Kakashi's rough rolling to get him away from Itachi, and Sasuke, who'd pulled several muscles in his arms when wrestling to get the knife away. Kakashi, however, was taken in an ambulance to the hospital to get stitches for the stab wound in his shoulder and an IV of antibiotics to prevent infection.

They were going to, unsurprisingly, keep him overnight for observation. Sandaime dropped by to talk to him, giving him some basic news. Reporters were circling, and not getting much of a story from the staff. What parents were saying would be a different story. They'd see with the paper the following day. Ibiki was vowing to never have a day off again when he was called about what had happened. The old man emitted a sense of great pride while he spoke. Particularly when he said that a substitute had been arranged and that the English teacher would have Tuesday off.

Kakashi scowled at that in a light-hearted way. He then laughed.

It was then that Team 7 arrived.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, you'll have to excuse an old man. I need to be going."

"Of course."

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you okay?" Naruto demanded, glaring at the English teacher.

"There was so much blood!" Sakura exclaimed, still looking pale.

Sasuke said nothing, merely glared at the hospitalized teacher.

The Scarecrow laughed again. "I assure you, I've survived much worse."

"Your time in the CIA?" Naruto asked, seemingly convinced that yes, Kakashi was just fine.

"In a manner of speaking. I did serve oversees and have been through a few tours of battle."

"But, but," Sakura sobbed, scrubbing at her eyes to stop the tears, "sensei, that was scary!"

Kakashi dropped his light-hearted tone. "Battle, no matter what the circumstances, is always scary."

"You weren't scared," Sasuke muttered, looking away.

"Oh I assure you, I was very scared." He looked down at the three of them. "I was scared he'd get a hold of you. That he'd hurt you. That he'd use you as a hostage to get through me. That he had some sort of back-up plan and other comrades stationed around the school. I had plenty that I was scared of. And, later this evening most likely, I'm going to have to deal with it." He gave a soft chuckle. "Probably this weekend too. And a little bit of the summer, now that I think about it."

"That long?" Sasuke asked.

The English teacher looked at the dark-haired pre-teen straight in the eye. "There are still things I'm dealing with now, even years later. I've lost a lot of things in my life. It takes time. This is relatively minor. I'll probably have sorted through all the 'what-if's and reminded myself that everything's fine by the end of July at the earliest. At worst, I'll be checking in on you three next year frequently."

"I wouldn't mind that," Sakura mumbled. "That way I'd know that you were okay."

"It's not like I'll be gone the rest of the school year. I'll be back Wednesday, reminding you of the test you have Friday."

"Sensei!" Naruto whined. "You mean we'll still have that test this week?"

"Of course," Kakashi replied. He glanced over to Sasuke, who was still looking sullen. "I'll see if you've been studying or not." Sasuke glanced at him and nodded. If Sasuke didn't perform as well as he normally did, Kakashi would take that afternoon consideration. Hopefully, however, the studying would be a welcomed distraction.

"Now," the English teacher leaned back into his soft pillows. "What time is it and have you done your homework yet?"

"Sensei!"

* * *

Tuesday, the following day, Kakashi was released from the hospital and given pills that he stuck in his fridge and ignored. If he could survive explosions that ripped out his eye, then one tiny stab wound wasn't going to get him down. Still, he wasn't one to ignore a day off. He lauded about his home, caught up on his very neglected book, and spent a good hour and a half soaking in a piping hot bath. Once that was done, he rewrapped his shoulder, put on a light jacket, and went out to the memorial for a while.

However, as was usual, Kakashi felt the pull deep inside to go back to school. Unless it was a vacation or a professional day, both instances usually being extremely well planned out, the Scarecrow couldn't stand being left to his own devices. Too many memories came up. So, Kakashi got into his car from the memorial, and headed to school.

He slipped into the office somewhere during F Period and was rather surprised when several of the secretaries came right up to him, abandoning their desks, to ensure that he was all right. He could barely get to his mailbox without stepping on someone's toes as they engulfed him with praise, concern, and proclamations of how stupid he was do to that!

"Kakashi."

The secretaries scurried back to their desks as the Old Man arrived, holding his pipe to his lips with a large grin on his face.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I gave you today off."

Kakashi gave a wry grin. "You did. But the students are calling."

Sandaime gave a hearty laugh. "You are exactly the kind of teacher we need more of."

The English teacher chuckled quietly.

"Please come with me."

Pulling his mail out of his mailbox, Kakashi followed the Old Man into his office. It wasn't much a surprise that Sandaime pulled up one of his more loved and comfortable chairs, but the Scarecrow accepted it graciously and let his bandaged shoulder sink into its soft goodness. Both had seen the morning paper, and the reporters had definitely had a field day with the news of a teacher brawling with someone else in the parking lot of the school. But despite all the concerns that the reporters brought up about how the school wasn't a good place with the drug bust and lockdowns earlier that year, etc, Sandaime confirmed what Kakashi had felt from the article. That it actually did more good than harm.

Parents, it seemed, had been calling all day, asking if what their children were saying was true and that an educator that the middle school employed defended the children from a madman at the risk of his own life. The students, it seemed, were telling more of the truth than the papers.

"I didn't do it to improve the school's reputation."

"Of course not," Sandaime replied. "You weren't even thinking long term, beyond ensuring that Sasuke would be safe, as well as other students as Itachi threatened them. It is that thinking that makes you such a hero to these parents."

Kakashi waved it away. "By the way, Hanamaru was placing bets on who would win between me and Itachi. Do you have a referral form handy?"

Sandaime laughed. "Ebisu as already addressed the matter. Several students were very disturbed at what he did on the buses. He will be in ISS for the rest of the week. The young man tried to lie about it and was rather defiant about Ebisu's inquiries."

"Hn." The Scarecrow looked out the window at the blooming tree and bushes in front of Sandaime's office. "How are the students?"

"Remarkably subdued." Sandaime looked out the window as well. "You would think the excitement yesterday would have them rather energetic today. However, I was surprised when I was walking down the halls today. The students are quiet, hurrying from one class to another."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The Old Man gave another smile, looking younger than he had in a long time. "Of course. Your team's little display has shown the students that the teachers will keep them safe. And with many of our students lacking safety at home, they're clinging to it while they have it." His smile faded a bit. "After all, in about a month and a half, they won't have this safety."

The English teacher sighed, sinking deeper into his chair. "Are you sure we can't just kidnap the students and raise them ourselves?"

The Old Man laughed.

* * *

Kakashi spoke with Sandaime for a while, and then wandered down the hall to guidance and chatted with Jiraiya. He was keeping them off task and he knew it, but both the Old Man and the Pervy Sage needed the distraction. Jiraiya tried to direct the conversation, as usual, to the English teacher's usual issues, but Kakashi avoided them all and focused on how the kids were doing. Naruto had come down that morning and blathered Jiraiya's ear off about how cool his English teacher was and how scary it was to suddenly be faced with being seriously hurt. Beyond whatever blows he'd gotten in bad foster homes, since his foster homes would, at worse, spank him or slap him if he did something wrong. Jiraiya had spent the better part of a period making sure that Naruto understood that such heroics were best left for those who had training.

Hinata had come down afterward, timidly asking if Kakashi was all right and feeling bad that she hadn't been able to do anything like Team 7 had. The Pervy Sage didn't spend as long straightening her out, but he did have to chuckle that she was blushing up a storm when she saw Naruto leaving.

"Any other students visit you about my stupidity yesterday?"

"Several. I won't bore you about the details. Suffice to say that you certainly made an impression on the younger grades. I've had lots of sixth graders come down to ask if they'll be on your team or not. Some fifth graders are also coming in and trying to make sure they end up with you."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He hardly expected that.

"On the other hand, I've had some parents call to make sure that their children aren't on your team. They don't want your violence rubbing off on their precious sons and daughters."

"Let me guess. They probably have some friends who work with newspapers?"

"However did you guess."

The Scarecrow sighed. "Can't please everyone."

"Indeed."

The phone rang and Jiraiya reached over to lift the receiver from its cradle. "Yes? ... Yes he is. ... Okay, I'll tell him." The Pervy Sage laughed and hung up the phone.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Quote. 'You're late. Very late. We have a meeting after school in Asuma's room. If you're late, I'll make sure your shoulder never heals again.' Unquote."

Kakashi grinned.

* * *

So it was. After school, Kakashi weaved his way through the surprised students down the hall to the math teacher's room. The kids kept trying to stop him, asking if there was another lunatic outside, why was he here and not in the hospital, and the expected "You're alive??"s. He answered them all blithely, stating that he'd forgotten a good book in his room and needed to be collected to properly enjoy his day off. Despite the jostling crowd, every single student was unusually cautious of him, like the entire student body knew he was injured and was trying not to aggravate it. Kakashi was touched.

"You seem to be on time. What an amazing thing," Iruka stated flatly as the English teacher closed the door behind him.

"Well, that's a shame," the Scarecrow smiled. "I'll try harder to be late next time."

Iruka offered a rude gesture before smiling. Everyone was there and they all walked over, shaking his hand and oh-so-gently slapping him on the back.

"My Rival! What courageous fortitude you displayed yesterday!" Gai boomed.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kurenai asked quietly, inspecting his shoulder, but not seeing any blood.

"Stupidity. Pure stupidity. But I'll be damned nonetheless, if you didn't put us all to shame." Asuma grinned widely.

"I've never been so scared in my life." That was Iruka, still fighting between a scowl and a smile.

They all sat down in their usual seats during team. "So, we all know what happened outside," Kakashi stated, leaning back carefully. "That's boring. What happened in here? How'd our little Team 7 get outside?"

"Don't you mean your little Team 7?" Iruka grumbled.

The English teacher only grinned.

"I got the call while I was putting up the chairs," Kurenai started. "My class was running late, so they left without putting up their chairs like usual." She shrugged. "When Shizune told me that Itachi was outside, I rushed to the halls."

"Sasuke and Naruto were at their lockers," Asuma picked up the tale. "You know some of the dolts in my homeroom. I was keeping an eye on the kids when she came rushing over."

"I was trying to pull Sasuke into Asuma's room--"

"But I wasn't letting her get a word in edgewise because I couldn't understand what the urgency was."

"Sasuke waited in Asuma's room, like a good student when Sakura came over. I think they were planning on going to her house this afternoon."

"But Naruto was listening in when she finally told me that Itachi was outside--"

"And he took off like a shot. Sakura raced after him screaming--"

"So of course, Sasuke heard her and tried to take off as well." Asuma chuckled. "You've crafted one fine team, Kakashi."

Gai continued the story. "By this point, the halls were emptying and our esteemed special education teacher and I heard the commotion around the corner."

"The way Sakura was screaming after Naruto, I'm not surprised," Asuma chuckled again.

"So being educators of youth, we went over to see what the trouble was."

"By that point," Kurenai interjected, "all of your Team 7 had taken off down the hall. I tried to be discreet in what I was explaining--"

"But I knew that my Eternal Rival would be in need of assistance."

"Hah." The math teacher chuckled again. "More like he got the sense that Kakashi was stealing his spotlight and went to claim it back. I've never seen Gai run so fast before."

The social studies teacher blushed and started various proclamations of youth.

"And of course," Iruka grumbled, "all of you were getting in font of Itachi and not looking after the students." He scowled at the team, a grin tugging at his lips. "So I went to Team 7."

"Ah," Kakashi nodded. They'd almost kept Sasuke out of harm's way, but it was one of those times when things just fell apart, no matter how hard you tried. "I understand the students have been remarkably well behaved today."

Asuma snorted. "Won't last. Rumors about you were flying today though. Including quite a few that you had died."

"Well, I'll be sorry to disappoint them when I arrive alive and kicking tomorrow."

"We were hard-pressed to replace you at the PPTs we had today," Kurenai smiled. "The parents wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Kiba's father seems very impressed with you," she replied. "He wanted to talk to you about how you learned how to fight. I think he thinks it will keep Kiba out of trouble."

"But it will cost money."

Kurenai shrugged, smiling brightly. "He just got a rather well-paying job at a factory. He gets paid by how many items he makes, but he's been making good headway and learning on the job. He doesn't have the money to get him and Kiba a proper home and they're still crashing with friends, but things seem to be improving. Kiba's been doing very well lately in class and I think that's the reason why."

Kakashi nodded. "And he has other things to focus on than his own woes. Hinata's been a good distraction."

"Yes, he's really helping her in social studies and science." She smiled. "I spoke to Hinata's father the other day. He's still on the stern side, but I think a lot of the pressure to succeed has been removed from her."

"At Neji's outright defiance of his parents and aunt and uncle," Gai gave his brilliant grin-with-sparkles. "Neji has been ensuring Hinata a stress free environment at home by being rude to his family in making them leave her alone. It is not the best of methods, but I applaud his heart of youth!"

"There was also some talk of outing Kiba from the special ed program," Iruka added. "Kiba's been doing so well this year that it was discussed, but I suggested that they wait and see how next year holds up, since that's his triennial. If your team keeps working with him, then he might be okay if he's outed, but I think he'll still need support systems."

"So Kiba and Team 8 are doing well," Kakashi grinned. "What else did I miss today?"

"Chouji's PPT," Asuma was still grinning widely. "You're little display yesterday had made him rather obscure to the student body and he's rather grateful for that. Nobody's bugging him with questions about why he's been gone for so long, etc."

"He's been doing very well in classes, and I think we can thank Shikamaru for that," Iruka added. "The two of them and Ino seemed to be doing okay during class today, but we'll see. They've been apart for a while so it will be like working out the kinks all over again."

"How is Chouji?" Kakashi asked. "Is he clean now?"

"Oh yes," Asuma nodded. "And skinny. He looks like a ninety-pound weakling, but he's constantly pulling out a bag of something in the halls. He'll probably work his way back to plump by the end of summer. Parents have restrictions on him up to wazoo. He won't be using again." Sudoku-sama leaned back in his chair. "I talked to him today after class. He's telling me that it was probably the stupidest thing he's ever done. He could just be telling me what I wanted to hear, but I don't think so."

The English teacher nodded. "If he thinks the restrictions are bad at home, I think we should make it clear that we're keeping restrictions on him as well. I have a field trip with my class next week and I think we may want to keep Chouji off of it and any other specialties until he's proved himself a bit."

"He already knows that," Iruka relied. "I laid those rules down hard this morning."

"Good. At the same time, don't be extra hard on him. Just think of these past few months as never happening for him. With any luck, he'll go through the rest of the year quietly."

Everyone nodded.

"Now that we've recapped," Kurenai smiled, "I want to know about the boring parts of yesterday. We know what happened inside. What happened outside?"

* * *

The following day was interesting for Kakashi. The students all wanted to discuss what had happened Monday afternoon, in minute detail. The Scarecrow couldn't exactly begrudge them, on some level, they did have a right to know, especially since a vast majority of them witnessed it. But it wasn't something he was all that ready to discuss with students. Getting them back on task was a curious mix of students being unusually willing to do what he told them to but still desperate to talk about his fight.

Of course, there were students who, through the rumor mill, thought that he was dead, fired, captured by the FBI (not the CIA, the FBI), etc and were surprised to see him in school. The one unanimous thing that all the students did was be careful of Kakashi's shoulder, which he kept bound to prevent jostling and aggravation.

Chouji was sticking to the sidelines, clearly glad not to be the mainstay of gossip with his return, and the English teacher kept an eye on how Team 10 was working together. Ino was still rather abrasive, but they seemed to have worked out a better system than they'd had before Chouji needed to go into rehab.

Team 7 seemed to be stuck to his side like glue. Either Sakura was inquiring on how he was feeling; Naruto was pestering him with questions on where to learn how to fight like that; or Sasuke was just stoically by his side. It was almost annoying, but Kakashi didn't have it in him to be irritated. Team 8, similarly, seemed glued to Kurenai's side. The English teacher didn't care who objected (if anyone did), she was staying on his team.

The most amazing thing about Wednesday was that Kakashi didn't have to throw anyone out, hand out a detention, or even so much as give a firm reprimand. All the students did like he asked without question or resistance. They didn't necessarily stay on task, but they tried to obey him.

Really, he should be stabbed in front of the buses more often.

* * *

Thursday was similar to Wednesday and Kakashi didn't mind in the slightest. Friday continued the pattern and the English teacher wasn't going to complain. It felt bizarre, but he wasn't going to say a word. He knew it wouldn't last, in any case. Something else would happen to get the rumor mill running and he'd be forgotten. But for now, he lavished.

So when C Period came around Friday, there was a distinctive skip in his step as he wandered down to the conference room in guidance to have another PPT. Asuma and Iruka were already there, as well as Shikamaru and his father.

"Ah," Nara grinned broadly, "here's the hero of the hour."

"Yo," Kakashi waved his free hand, his other arm still bound to prevent his stitches from ripping. "I see my reputation precedes me. Whatever you've heard is a lie and I didn't do it."

Nara laughed, slapping the table. "I will miss you next year. You and your team are certainly interesting people."

"Daaaad," Shikamaru mumbled, looking away.

"So," Iruka started, passing over the sign-in sheet. "Do you have any questions or concerns?"

"Plenty, but not with regards to my son." Nara continued to grin broadly. "He's been doing great this year. His friends are doing well and I'm very proud of him."

"We're looking at what math course he'll take next year," Asuma started. "You know that he's already in eighth grade math--"

Shikamaru groaned what sounded like "troublesome".

"So for next year, I want him to try Algebra I."

"Sounds fine."

Asuma grinned. "I've been giving him some sample problems when he visits me in SSR. As the year goes on, you may have to bump him up to Geometry, so bear that in mind."

"Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru growled. "Are you trying to be troublesome? That's way too much work and effort."

Nara put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, calming him. "Settle down, son. We'll face that hurtle when we get there."

The student slouched back, still mumbling "troublesome".

Asuma continued. "There will be some concerns if you choose to sign him up for Geometry. He'll be with students a few years older than him and there's the question of how to get him back and forth with the high school, etc. There will be a lot of things to think about if the subject is brought up. You can discuss it with your wife over the summer so that you're prepared."

Iruka frowned. "He still has a bit of a lazy streak. He's keeping his grades up, but I'm still unsure if he's really doing the best he can."

Nara turned a stern look to his son, who winced.

"He may get his laziness from me, but even I know when to buckle down and work."

Shikamaru, yet again, mumbled something about "troublesome".

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. Despite how it started, this week had turned into something rather splendid.

* * *

**Author's Note:** ...Okay. Don't ask me where that fight with Itachi and Kakashi came from. It just blew in from nowhere and wouldn't let me go until it was written. That wasn't based on any actual experience (thank god) of us or anyone we knew. We have, however, seen kids outpouring when a teacher is in the hospital, or going in for surgery, etc. So that, plus the fact that for some students, their only caring adult is a teacher, well, resulted in Kakashi's happy feelings. By all rights, there should have been a major get-well card from staff and students. I also grunt when reading this chapter about the fact that we haven't even tried to discuss all the duties a teacher has during the school year, ranging from lunch duty, hall duty, bus duty, morning duty, running clubs, etc. But the student stories always seemed to come first. I can't help but wonder if some of the instances with the students could have happened during a duty or something, but meh.

Several of you have asked about Gaara. The two of us debated back and forth on whether to explain or not all week in regards to this. One of the things that makes a story really good (in our opinion) is going back and picking up more things than you did the first time round. We've left several things explained, but unsaid throughout the story, so that a second reading might put pieces together. All our Kaka/Iru stuff is sublte so that you have to squint really hard to see it. Similarly with any parings amongst the students. Just as the actual anime/manga leaves things open to interpretation, we tried to honor that. However, after reading **Jill Bioskop**'s review, we decided to detail Gaara a bit more thoroughly.

Gaara, clearly, wants to spend time with Yashamaru. To that end, Kankuro and Temari, in their own way, sought to help by stealing money from Asuma to give to Gaara. The plan was that Gaara would then use that money to help Yashamaru pay off some bills to take a day off. (Three hundred bucks isn't nearly enough, but students don't have that fine a grasp of budgeting at that age usually.) Of course, Naruto threw a wrench into the works by stealing the money back. So when vacation came around and Yashamaru's spot was, yet again, vacant, Gaara got more inward and more pissed. **Jill Bioskop** (who has earned another Naruto plushie of her choice) was correct when she postulated that Yashamaru brushed off Gaara at one point and thought Gaara only saw it as disappointment instead of the serious blow it was. So with Gaara stewing on that for almost a week, it isn't really a surprise that he finally exploded. The explosion was based off a real-life student and incident. Neither of us ever found out what that student's problem was (beyond being SED - Socially and Emotionally Disturbed). So anyone's guess on Gaara's new diagnosis is as good as ours. We did a lot of melding for Gaara's character, from SED students we've met and worked with to Gaara's actual problems in the anime/manga, such as insomnia and mumbling to himself/clutching his head.

We hope that answers any questions.

**InoShikaCho**: We hope the above explanation clarifies things. Our best guess is that Gaara will be institutionalized now, probably to some degree, for the rest of his life. Given his issues as we know them, that's probably for the best for now. Chouji's now back and (after Kakashi hijacked the chapter from us) remarkably under the radar of his peers, to his own advantage. Plus, he clearly has Shikamaru and Ino in his corner to prevent anything too bad from happening.

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: We don't know what he "has" either. Some disorders are misdiagnosed and as a result mistreated, but as an educator, you aren't necessarily told all the details, especially if the student won't be coming back again, like with Gaara here.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: phew Let's just say nobody offended anyone and call it done, ne? . Actually, we see Sasuke-kun as the type to have frequent controlled explosions. He's very impulsive in the anime, but in a more controlled and restricted way. Put enough pressure on him (or anyone) and they'll explode somehow. In this AU, he doesn't have everything he has in the anime (which can be both frustrating and freeing as an author). As always, we hope this chapter pleased as well.

**SpiderWench**: Don't worry about being gone. We've had to take breaks before, so it's only natural for our readers to drop out from time to time as life happens. We're all relaxed here, no pressure to read every week. When you can works just as well as long as you enjoy. Yes, we did do some brief research for Hinata's arc. While we've probably had students that are into cutting, we've never diagnosed/noticed them. (Cutting, generally, is a private thing as we understand it.) We're honored you think our pilfering of your idea was carried out so well. Thank you for suggesting it. As you can see, Hinata is doing much better. We're also pleased that you like Sandaime's reference to Konohamaru. Sometimes, it's really the little things that make a chapter work. Yup, Kakashi comforted Iruka this chapter. He wasn't alone while doing so, but he was definately there. In maybe two years or so, they might actually try doing more together. Heheheheh. Hope your flight went well and your trip is safe.

**Jill Bioskop**: Woah. By far one of our longest reviews ever (in ANY of our stories). You've earned a gold star, smiley face, and an A+ for that review. You are, without a doubt, our most thoughtful reviewer. By God, you've even tried to diagnose Gaara for us when we don't even know what he (or that kid he was based off of) had. It's always a treat to read your theories and hypothesis on what's going on. You can come frighteningly close while being just off enough to make us think we dodged a bullet and have kept you guessing. Like we've said above, you have another Naruto plushie of your choice. (Well earned, after that review, we might add.) You are correct. Gaara, with different parents, would probably have turned out A LOT different. Gaara is, unfortunately, an example of a kid who can fall through the cracks of the educational and societal systems of our country. No Child Left Behind was created to prevent this type of tradgedy from happening (through testing for some reason), but I'm not sure such sad stories can be avoided no matter what's done. If a child has a shitty life, schools can do what they can to provide stability and a steady balance of rewards and consequences. But a child is only at school for six hours a day, one-hundred-eighty days of the year. There's only so much that can be done. It's frustrating as an educator when this happens, because as only one person, you can't do much. Yes, it is a waste. Gaara is doomed to suffer through most of his life, even with proper counseling, medication, or whatever he needs. Much like people with neuropathy will be in pain for the rest of their lives (and our mother is now amongst them). Yashamaru should never have been made a parent/guardian, but social serviecs _do_ try and keep families together to the best of their ability. It keeps some level of stability and works with already established connections to provide support. Gaara loves his uncle and wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. Yashamaru just wasn't ready for parenthood. - Sorry. End Rant. Kakashi's finely-tuned intuition. He has a lot of instinct that his military background has probably trained to get to such a degree. Plus, he _is_ a genius after all. Our mother is doing well. She has good days, and she has bad days. Most bad days are caused by either neuropathy or the sheer emotional _strain_ of having her life poured into a blender and put on high. So far neuropathy seems to be the only complication from her diabetes, and we're praying that will be the only one.

Thank you all for reading. Next week: Hopeless teasing of Sasuke.


	33. Week 32

**May: Week Thirty-Three**

* * *

"You're late!"

"Sorry, I found I kept turning around to watch the student body at large bowing and worshiping the ground I walked on; one girl even had a ruler to measure and determine the exact place my feet fell so she could kneel down and kiss it, to say nothing of the kids who were trying touch--"

"Liar! Well, exaggerator!"

Routine taken care of, Kakashi sat down in his chair and pulled out his book. "What's on today's agenda?"

"It's the second week of the month," Kurenai said. "The newsletter. I'd say we had quite a lot to write about."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, flipping a page.

"We could always interview you on last week's heroics."

The Scarecrow looked up flatly. "No comment."

Asuma grinned. "Told you! You both owe me ten bucks," he said, holding out his hand to Gai and Iruka.

"Oh, come on," Iruka said, scowling as he pulled out his wallet, "we have to address it."

"Address it, yes. Glorify it, no."

"My rival I have never known you to be a spoilsport!" Gai proclaimed, striking a pose. "Perhaps you are despondent that even that heroic display of courage and all the points it garnered has yet to have you catch up to my illustriously elevated position!"

"Hm? Did you say something, Gai?"

While the Green Beast was choking, the English teacher turned to the rest of the team. "We can give a succinct but _brief_ explanation of what happened: an abusive family member of a student violated a restraining order and became violent, the teachers involved defended themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. Most of the adult population is smart enough to know that that kind of violence is not cool - regardless of what the students may pronounce - so let's put the blame on Itachi while we can. If we're lucky, it will add to his sentencing," he added, an evil smile spreading across his face. "We'll also need to talk about the final schedules, which means we actually have to make them, and let the parents know what the kids should be bringing."

"Some of the kids were balking when I told them finals were only three weeks away," Asuma said. "I'll be handing out the review packet next week, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they realize it's ten pages."

"Mine's fifteen," Kakashi said. "The vocabulary is going to kill them."

"We can see whose is bigger later," Kurenai said lightly, Iruka noting it in the book. "Do we even know the finals schedule?"

"It's pretty standard," Iruka said. "It hasn't changed since I've been here. A week of half days, two hour exams, two a day. Then the last two days are half-days, too. One for the awards ceremony, were the grades go to different corners of the building and we hand out all the certificates, and the last day we give out the grades."

"That reminds me," Asuma said, "I got the okay from the amusement park two weeks ago. We need to start handing out permission slips."

"How much are they paying?"

"Fifteen per kid. The actual ticket price is double that, but I was able to haggle a discount, and it covers not only the tickets but the bus rental and gas."

"Sweet," Kakashi said appreciatively. "We must have had a lucrative year this year."

"We did. Even after this we're going to be on great footing for next year."

"There's also field day," Gai said, finally back to the realm of sanity (however temporarily). "The eighth grade is organizing it, and the rumors I'm getting are pretty good. If the weather is good, they'll convert the sports field into a giant activity center. There's talk of an inflatable castle and slide, a pie eating contest,"

"Chouji will win that hands down," Asuma interjected.

"And, if they can afford it after everything else, a karaoke contest."

Everybody groaned when they heard that. The middle school chorus was quite terrible, and nobody could even imagine what the rest of the grades sounded like.

"We should probably mention all this in the newsletter," Kakashi said finally. "It'll fill up the space quite nicely."

It took two days to crank out the newsletter. They realized very suddenly that the end of the year was upon them; and the devil was in the details, as the saying went. Running off permission slips was one thing, it was another entirely to figure out how to organize the grade into manageable segments and split them off into groups. The general rule of thumb was to have them sign up into their own groups, but last year's excursion had proved disastrous, and they were hesitant to try again. Finally, they decided to have them sign up their own, and then have a final say.

There was also the pain of field day. The eighth grade had a different period for team time, and they were rather notorious for not answering emails. Kakashi had missed the last two student council meetings for various reasons - one being a certain hospital stay - and he kept missing the other teacher who manned it in order to learn what was up (and _she'd_ had problems with her email all year). Kakashi finally gave up and asked Sakura, who more than happily pulled out her notes and explained what they'd had planned. He should have gone to her in the first place, really. The only thing she didn't know was the cost of it all, apparently it was all an idea list, and the English teacher sighed as he scanned the list and realized just how much the 8th grade wanted to spend.

* * *

Overall, the week was generally quiet, and Kakashi was beginning to think that they just _might_ squeak by without some kind of catastrophe. As soon as he had the thought, however, he knew he had just doomed himself. No sooner had he thought that that his premonition came true.

It was after school; he was helping Hinata, Kiba, and Chouji on the project they were working on (the last of the year, though they didn't know that) when he heard raised voices in the hall.

Kakashi was curious, especially since one of the voices sounded suspiciously like Sasuke, but he had three students in his room that needed his help.

Ah, whom was he kidding?

"Could you three excuse me for a brief moment?" he told his students, getting up. After receiving various grunts and nods of affirmatives he wandered over to his door and stuck his head out. There was nothing immediate in the hall, so he stepped out and peek around the corner.

"You do not have what it takes to maker her happy!"

"It's not my job to make her happy; she does that completely on her own."

"Such selfishness and arrogance can only do her harm!"

"She doesn't see it that way."

"How dare you make such presumptions about her feelings?"

"Look, what the hell do you want from me?"

It was actually very funny to watch, Kakashi decided, as the eighth grader Rock Lee continued to try to fight with Sasuke. He leaned his shoulder against the wall, amused, as Lee continued to make wilder and wilder accusations and Sasuke, flat faced, turned them all down. It took a while to understand _what_, exactly, this was all about; until he heard a heartfelt proclamation of "Sakura-san!" from Lee, and then it all made sense.

He's heard from the eighth grade that Lee had a crush on a seventh grader; he'd no idea it was Sakura and, thinking back over the year and how Team 7 in general must have looked to outsiders, it was pretty easy to understand why Lee thought Sasuke might not be the best beau for the Student Council Secretary, especially if one looked at the beginning of the year when Sakura was crushing on the boy. Kakashi grinned as he watched the display: Lee, a carbon copy of Gai, defending a girl's honor while Sasuke, a copy of a _much _younger Kakashi, was annoyed by it all.

His mellow attitude towards it all disappeared instantaneously, however, when Lee grabbed Sasuke's shirt. "Why will you not listen to reason?" The look on Sasuke's face indicated that the two were about to come to blows.

"Okay, that's enough," Kakashi said, announcing his presence. "It's not really worth a week's suspension is it?"

The two stared at him, Lee starting to ask, "How did you...?"

"My eternal rival has been watching the two of you go at it for some time now!"

Aw, no. Kakashi internally groaned.

"He of course has not been watching as long as I, but we need not quibble over details." Gai stepped out from Asuma's room, an annoyingly bright grin on his face and a downright saunter in his step. "Now then, why are two youths such as yourselves overworking your vocal chords?"

"They're fighting over a girl," Kakashi said lightly. Perturbed though he may be at Gai's arrival (he had such good plans for how to handle this), he could roll with the best of them and turn this into a wonderfully embarrassing experience.

"Oho!" Gai said, sparkles appearing in his eyes as well as his teeth. Sasuke looked distinctly annoyed, an embarrassed flush appearing on his face as he tried to look away. "Nothing ignites the fires of youth such as the embers of love! Isn't that right, Lee?"

"Yes! Gai-sensei!" Tears were streaming down Lee's face, already moved by the flowery words that were falling out of Gai's mouth.

"The motivations of the heart are truly the strongest sources of inspiration, skipping a beat is the cause of celebration, blushes are flowers of passion! Behold, Sasuke is experiencing such feelings even as we speak!"

Said boy, embarrassed and trying to escape, now had all eyes on him. Kakashi watched as the boy actually tried to shrink. "I'm not sure if it's passion or humiliation," the Scarecrow said lightly.

"It's true!" Gai shouted, now plowing full steam ahead. "Love really does beget the strongest of all actions and reactions! But Lee!" he said, tears now also streaming down his face. "You must not let it affect intelligent decisions! Love is powerful, no doubt all-consuming, but at this tender age of youth you must think of your education first! All the wonderful futures possible for you are laid at your feet! You cannot risk eliminating the best of those possible futures by spending all your time chasing after the opposite sex! Indeed! That word should be the last word on your mind until you are at least eighteen, an age of youth where you can perform such a marvelous act!!"

"Gai-sensei, I think you've lost them," Kakashi replied lightly.

The Green Beast paused, seeing the utterly clueless faces of the two boys. "Ah! I have gone woefully over their heads; but perhaps that is for the best - it means that the minds of these youths have not been corrupted. Now, to explain the hazards of love!"

Kakashi was enjoying himself. He decided it was a good thing that Gai had shown up; the juxtaposition of Lee, lapping up every word and taking notes as he was moved to tears, against Sasuke, who was trying every possible thing under the sun to get away from this horrific source of torture and public humiliation was absolutely priceless. Gai droned on - well, droned meaning he continued to shout and preach with his voice all over the musical spectrum as he dissected his own personal opinions of love and how it should and should not affect youth.

"But as dangerous as love is," he exclaimed, "you must not live in fear of it, for love can be a beautiful garden in the tumultuous lives of youth!" Thus began the list of pros in love's favor, and Kakashi noted that Sasuke was actually starting to look sick.

Satisfied that they would be locked in place for a while, Kakashi virtually skipped back to his room, happily smiling as Sasuke glared at the abandonment. When he reentered his room, he saw the curious looks of his three students, Kiba, Chouji, and Hinata as they heard a particularly loud proclamation from the Green Beast, but Kakashi ignored them and whistled tunelessly as he went back to helping them. The boys would occasionally chuckle as they heard a word or sentence out of context, however, and Kakashi did nothing to dissuade them.

The hallway had only quieted down for a few minutes when the bell for the late bus rang; Kiba and the others having left fifteen minutes ago. Kakashi wandered out to the hall and around the corner. Gai and Lee were both gone, but Sasuke was huddled in front of his locker, pulling books out.

"Oh, come on," Kakashi said lightly. "When the humiliation of it all passes and you look back on this, you have to admit it's pretty funny."

"I'll be dead before that happens," Sasuke replied darkly.

Kakashi openly laughed at that.

"Sasuke-kun? You're still here?"

The pair turned to see Sakura walking down the hall towards them. "Mom and I've been waiting in the car forever."

It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Oh, it's nothing serious," Kakashi said in his singsong voice, "Sasuke got into a little bit of trouble, that's all."

Sakura took he bait perfectly. "Trouble?" She looked to the boy with wide green eyes, her face blanketed in worry.

"Oh, yes," Kakashi said, leaning against the lockers. "He came thiiiiiiis close," he held up his thumb and index finger, spacing them millimeters apart, "to getting into a fight."

"A fight?!" Sakura knelt down to Sasuke. "A fight about what? Sasuke-kun, you know you can't afford to get into another fight, they'll expel you!"

"Oh, don't worry Sakura," Kakashi replied. Sasuke was glaring daggers but the Scarecrow was immune to it all. "He had a very good reason. He was defending a girl's honor."

"Sensei," the boy said in a low voice.

"What?" Sakura asked, swinging her head up to the teacher.

"Sensei," he said again, but Kakashi ignored it.

"Oh, yes. A big, bad, eighth grader was up here declaring that he was no good for a particular girl that said eighth grader was crushing on." This made Sakura instantly curious, paying rapt attention. "But the big, bad, eighth grader didn't understand that Sasuke, whatever he may or may not feel," he continued casting a sly and yes, evil glance, "isn't ready for that kind of relationship. I think I said the exact thing to you, didn't I? At the beginning of the year?"

This changed Sasuke's dark glare into one of curiosity as the last sentence hit him. "You what?" he asked.

Placing a surprised look on his face, Kakashi finally turned his head to look the boy full in the face. "Oh? I didn't tell you? I'll let Sakura explain."

Now it was Sakura's turn to blush, her face quickly becoming the same color as her hair. "S-sensei!" she cried out, her hand flying to her cheeks. "I was a different person then," she mumbled.

That made Sasuke really curious, and he looked back and forth between the two.

"Maa, maa," the teacher said. "I could go back and forth between the two of you for days, but Mrs. Haruno has probably waited long enough. I'll walk you to the car. Sakura, lead the way."

The silence was long and, for the two preteens, incredibly awkward. Kakashi was happy as a cloud however, and didn't even try to hide his grin while they piled into Sakura's mother's car. The woman looked at the two, and then at Kakashi curiously, the question hanging on her lips.

"Nothing to worry," he said lightly. "I was just teasing them horribly."

Mrs. Haruno blinked for a moment before she, too, split into a grin. "I can guess as to what about."

"Oh, this and that," he replied, grinning like an idiot.

He was caught whistling randomly for the rest of the week.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Short chapter, but sweet and fun; because they needed a _break_ the poor things. :D By the way, if any of you are curious (pokes fingers together) we have two other Naruto fics on our profile. One's Sasuke's wandering thoughts before the whole leaving-Konoha-arc and the other is Iruka ranting to Kakashi. If any of you are curious. (pokes fingers more)

**Af**: Wow! A new reviewer! Sugoi. Ah, the dilemma of "school appropriate" manga for a middle school. There are actually a few questions that you need to think about. How conservative is your town/school? Some of the religious themes and homosexual characters of a manga can be ruthlessly discussed if a town is excessively conservative. Final Fantasy X, Grandia II and several other video games came under the category of "controversial" because in the games there's a corrupt church that runs things. To say nothing of games like Grand Theft Auto which basically follows in the Godfather's footsteps. The more conservative your town, the more manga you'll have to cross off the list. A general rule of thumb is friendship manga, where the main themes are about working together and protecting your friends. Pokemon and Digimon are probably the most well known of this variety, but there are others like Shaman King and Hikaru no Go. Always be sure to check the ratings of the manga, and if you have a club, that means that a teacher will be in charge. The teacher will probably have the best idea of what's appropriate, so whenever you suggest something, make sure they have the final say. If you start a series and the teacher finds something that isn't school appropriate, stop the series in club. You can rent on your own if you're still interested, but listen to the teacher and their reasons. I want to suggest shows like Cardcaptor Sakura and Rurouni Kenshin, since they are classic anime. However, each show has characters of undefined sexuality (Yukito/Touya, Kamatari), and in middle school in particular, that will probably be frowned upon. Sorry for not being able to provide a more thorough list.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Yes, Go Kakashi. We like him. We wish to emulate him. Hehe. It's always strange to hear this story called "deep". It's just life. With the exception of the previous chapter, these are true stories, so it's hard to look at them and see "depth". As an author, you strive for depth in the weaving of threads and pondering of character interactions. It's (for us) about putting in a theme that connects the beginnng, middle, and end into a cohesive unit. While not necessarily a "moral of the story", but an underlying concept that the reader can pick up. There is none of that for this story. It's an edu-tainment of life and the reality of schools that you don't really see in fanfiction. That anyone can read these stories as "deep" is an honor. We hope our teasing of Sasuke put a smile on your face. After Bloody April, everyone needed it. Except maybe Sasuke.

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Thanks. Hope you liked this one as well and that it "keeps the good work up".

**Abibliophobia**: Cool name. Are you scared of bibliographies? Hehe. We did strive for accuracy of character with the anime/manga. Sasuke, as always, remains elusive to properly grasp, especially since any interpretation of him we see in fanfiction always feels off for some reason. Actually, the characters slipped into this story very easily and shouted out what story was theirs without us having to push much.

**Bibliophilist**: Another cool name. Any relation to abibliophobia? We're glad we sucked you in. That's a very high compliment, thank you. Actually choosing who taught what was suprisingly easy. Kakashi's propensity for reading definately leant him to being an English teacher, Iruka's gentle firmness and knowing he'd be close to Naruto put him into special ed easily, Asuma teaching the genius put him into math without any problems, Kurenai's genjutsu seemed to fit well with science experiments and Gai's passion put him in the social sciences easily. Everyone else fell into their roles quite well, all the way down to what characters had what arcs we wanted to cover. It's almost frightening how well it all fit together, even in the writing. As for Sandaime, read next week. You're welcome. Our little edu-tainment story was meant to teach in its own way and it's nice to see lessons paying off. We hope you enjoy what we do with Sandaime next week.

**InoShikaCho**: Actually, it takes a very, very rare type of kid to place bets. You have the class clowns who seek attention and don't know how to behave, but they know they're safe in school. It's quite another thing to actually see a fight going on. What you say may be true, but don't make that kind of snap judgement unless you've seen them do it. You're not the only one annoyed that Chouji's return got pushed to back burner. Mirror was very annoyed with it as she typed, but Itatchi just bullied his way in and wouldn't leave until he was in handcuffs.

**SpiderWench**: We're happy to please. :D We'd also love to know Gaara's diagnosis. He's never told us. Despite much prodding, poking, and attempted bribing. He remains silent. You are correct about that fight. In reality, it would be handled much differently. But Kakashi wouldn't have it any other way. Plus, in high school shootings, who knows how teachers behave. You can bet, as the adult of the room, they'd be drawing attention to themselves and away from their students, but Kakashi insisted on being a bit more up front with Itachi and Kisame. Hn, sounds like you're suffering from jetlag. Hope that's improved this week.

Thank you all for reading. Next week: Sandaime's arc.


	34. Week 33

**May: Week Thirty-Four**

* * *

The weekend could be summarized by one word. Plotting. This week had something special happening and Kakashi had taken it upon himself to ensure that everything went off without a hitch. Granted, with only three weeks left after this week, Kakashi was hard pressed to find time to devote to his little pet project, but he was making time whenever he could. The main obstacles in his way were two simple things that took a lot of work.

The first obstacle was the amusement park field trip. Since it was going to take place the following week, there were all sorts of last minute details that were occurring and demanding attention. Students were haphazardly handing in permission slips, but not the money needed to go, or handing in the money but not the permission slips. Students with health concerns like asthma seemed to be forgetting the additional form that their parents needed to sign about what the needed to bring with them for such an exciting excursion. The bus company was calling to say that the buses that Kakashi's team had arranged were being called to a massive fieldtrip from another school across the state. The amusement park had the tickets mailed to them, but not enough. Etc, etc, etc.

Granted, some of these things would be happening right up until they were on the buses to leave next week, but the more major concerns had to be dealt with. Kakashi swore by Wednesday that he'd spent all of his free time on the phone with various parties to ensure that everything was set up. Even the students in his SSR ended up playing witness to a particularly frustrating call to the amusement park about the missing tickets that had started at the beginning of C Period and ended somewhere during E Period.

Still, aside from a few parents that needed to be called about slips or money, by Thursday morning, the field trip was finally as ready as it was going to be. Any more problems would be purely student related. For that, Kakashi was infinitely grateful.

The other major obstacle was even more time consuming. An email was sent out Tuesday morning asking about students that were close to losing credit due to truancy, absences, etc. Most people would think it a simple job of counting up absences, tardies, and seeing which met up with the requirements or not.

The first problem with that was, even with advancements in technology that allowed teachers to record attendance on the computers, not all teachers recorded it every period. Some didn't consider tardiness an issue unless it was an obviously chronic condition. Kakashi had a fine memory and recorded at the end of the day. However, several students had extraneous circumstances that needed to be taken into account. Chouji, for example, had many absences and late arrivals from when he was using. The young Akimachi had already been punished enough for that slip of conscience; the Scarecrow didn't feel he needed any other consequences. Then, there were students like Naruto and Hanamaru, who were had been in ISS frequently.

With the looking up (and adjusting) of those who were losing credit and ending up in summer school, it prompted Kakashi to start looking at the grades and who was missing work or had grades that needed to be made up. The students knew the drill when the end of a marking period came, but Kakashi still started to chase down students to help bring up their grades. Especially with end of the year grades being a computation of four quarters and the final. With next week being the last week to turn in work many students would need to be sat on in order to get any production out of them.

It was late Tuesday evening when Kakashi finally had everything set for those still missing work. He'd dug up (and remade) old copies of worksheets they needed, pulled out books that they might need to reread, and made lists of what everyone still owed. Thus, Wednesday morning, Kakashi made it all seem to occur to him at the last moment that time was running out and that the students still had work to turn in.

Of course, that meant that work was pouring in to be graded.

But despite these obstacles eating up massive chunks of the Scarecrow's free time, he couldn't keep the mischievous plotting smile off his face. He practically bounced through the halls on fake errands as he set up his trap for Friday. Naturally, his team knew what he was up to and helped him to some degree, but Kakashi wanted to do most of this trap himself. It was a self-imposed mission that had him going to the far reaches of the school to call in favors.

Finally, Wednesday, during F Period, a student seemed to notice his odd behavior and wanted to comment on it. The odd teams were across the hall with Iruka, and the English teacher was left with his quieter teams. This gave him time to do some prep work for the trap he was setting, and his desk was covered with construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter, and other various odds and ends. Granted, most of these items would be made by people like Kurenai and the art teachers, but Kakashi's contribution was going to be something necessary, even if nobody else understood why.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

The English teacher looked up. "Yes, Shino?"

The dark spectacled boy looked around Kakashi's very messy desk. "What are you doing?"

He pondered how to answer for a moment. Should he bring the students of the school at large into his trap? That would make hiding it much, much more difficult. But after the year the school had been having... Kakashi smiled. This was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

"I'm glad you asked."

And thus the student body was involved in his trap. As Kakashi wandered the halls, his ears picked up the whispers of various plans that the kids were doing to augment his trap and while underdeveloped, some of them were brilliant. On Thursday morning, he came across a pack of fifth graders swapping materials for their own contributions, the sixth grade had a banner that was subtly making its way through the various rooms, Neji, Tenten, and Li were seen in the woodshop after school making something. And yet, the object of their trap knew nothing.

Oh, this was so good.

Shino proved to be an invaluable aide. He provided regular information to the English teacher on how the student preparations were going on. The Aburame boy seemed to have a bug in every grade that he used to find out what was appropriate and what wasn't and provided the necessary warnings to Kakashi, who would call certain teachers and squish the bad offerings. Several students came up during Team Time to ask Kakashi and his team what they should do, get, make, etc. Team 7 was there during Team Thursday to help organize last minute details and Shino with the rest of his Team 8 were with the Scarecrow during C Period Friday before the trap was to be sprung, helping with last minute preparations, as well as other representatives from other grades.

The school had never seen such building-wide collaboration. Not with the students, nor with the faculty. Usual bickering points were put aside for Kakashi's well-laid trap. Several teachers came up to the English teacher and said that such an undertaking couldn't have been done by anyone else and Kakashi just threw off the compliment, saying he'd had a lot of help. Granted, his military training probably helped in some way, but this was just something that Needed to Be Done.

So Friday afternoon, after the lunch blocks were done, classes were called down to the auditorium one by one in secret by Shizune. The students were all silent in the large hall, no one wanting to spoil the surprise. Kakashi stayed with his F Period class as Shizune made the announcement over the loudspeakers for the victim of the trap to report to the auditorium.

When the door opened and Sandaime stepped in, the room roared with cheers and clapping, whistling, and a disjointed chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Kakashi's trap was sprung.

The Old Man stood at the doors, jaw agape, eyes large and ornamental pipe hanging from his lips. All around him students were yelling, clapping, reaching out to slap him on the back, all in a long path leading up to the stage where a bunch of folding tables had been set up. One bore a large cake with numerous candles, plates, napkins, cups, sodas and plastic flatware. The others were all devoted to cards, drawings, and presents of many shapes and sizes to the point of overflowing. Up on the stage Asuma stood grinning, his _hitae-ate_ gleaming under the lights, with an eight-year-old on his back.

"Happy birthday, Grandpa!" the little boy shouted over the din, almost choking Asuma as he tried to climb onto the math teacher's shoulders.

With everyone singing and cheering, Sandaime stood frozen at the doors, staring at the sea of students. Finally, a tiny smirk tugged onto the old principal's lips. He looked up to the stage again, seeing the giant, glittered, hanging banner proclaiming its congratulations. The Old Man's eyes found Kakashi's visible one. Kakashi only grinned back.

The beloved principal walked up to the stage, smiling and getting hugged by various students who poured forth to shower him with their affection. He made slow progress getting to the stage, but the English teacher just smiled.

"Kakashi."

"Yes, Ebisu?"

"I must grudgingly admit that your preparations, though seemingly inane and overdone, have shamed even such an elite vice principal as myself."

The Scarecrow merely grinned.

"Your timing also remains impeccable."

That made Kakashi's ear twitch. "Oh?"

Ebisu nodded gravely, pushing his dark glasses up his nose. "You are such a well-informed member of the faculty. You know of the troubles that the seventh grade has gone through, as well as the issues that other grades had been having."

And how, Kakashi noted grimly. He was already learning which students would probably be bloodied each week for next year's seventh grade and which students would probably be pregnant. Plus, as always, he had heard some of the problems that the current eighth grade had gone through and the fifth grade. The entire school had had a difficult year.

"What you may not have heard is that a fifth grader's parents have been lobbying to remove Sandaime-sama and put in someone more... traditional."

Kakashi turned to the vice-principal. "You're joking, right?"

"Add that with all the times we've needed to call in police this year, the bad press, the board of education getting all screwed up with the last election, it's been a bad year to be an administrator."

Kakashi frowned deeply. "They won't get rid of the Old Man."

Ebisu shook his head. "No, but he may have to retire soon."

Why did such a good celebration have to be marred?

"Your timing is indelible. He needed this."

"I try."

With a dry chuckle, the vice-principal walked away. Meanwhile, Sandaime had finally arrived at the stage and had a plate of cake in one hand and his grandson clinging to his other.

"I suppose," the Old Man said to the gathered students, faculty and staff, "that this is where I should make some sort of speech?" The assembly chuckled. "Suffice to say, I'm speechless."

"Come on, Granpa," the boy whined, tugging at Sandaime's hand. "You always have something to say! You're always lecturing my ear off!"

The auditorium chuckled.

"Ah, Konohamaru, which lecture would you like me to offer?"

"LECTURE!" the grandson said indignantly. "You should make a speech, not a lecture!"

The old man laughed.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather have my cake."

Administration and staff started to gather on the stage where there was cake and drinks while the teachers manned their students. Around the perimeter of the room a teacher from each team had their own cake and drinks set up. For those with food allergies (of which, there were many) a separate table had been set up just under the stage by the specials teachers. Now Kakashi had been expecting to squash students into behaving properly and he'd even taken the liberty of preparing his room as a place for him to hold any boneheads who got out of control over the next two periods. But the English teacher was pleasantly surprised. Much like after he'd been stabbed, the student body was remarkably well behaved. The Scarecrow couldn't determine if it was because of the teacher presence circulating around the auditorium or if it as because they didn't want to ruin the celebration for such an adored principal.

Of whom, Sandaime was opening presents one by one on the stage with Konohamaru hovering on one side, opened presents at the other. The smile on the Old Man's face seemed to be growing exponentially and despite the disturbing news Ebisu had dropped earlier, the English teacher let the happiness surrounding him wash over his soul, buoying parts he didn't think needed uplifting.

With all the stress of the year, such a happy moment of release was sorely needed and something to cling to. After all, who knew what disaster would come dropping down on them next.

Kakashi flitted about the auditorium, checking in with fellow faculty, squishing the occasional students who were pushing boundaries, and checking in with his usual sources of gossip. The student body was doing quite will until Yugao Uzuki, one of the Spanish teachers of the school, dragged a pair of sullen sixth-graders over to the English teacher. Kakashi missed the rest of the party as his room slowly started to gain various troublemakers. Those that did arrive to his room were put about his usual detention rules of sitting completely still. He was pleased to note that only one seventh grader, from the other team, arrived in his room, and only two eighth graders, those two grades knowing better than to end up with him looming over their shoulders.

When the bell for the end of the day finally rang, Kakashi was rather pleased with how his little trap went. It was also unsurprising that the Old Man arrived in his room, another slice of cake in hand.

"Kakashi, you sneaky dog."

"Am I?" he replied cheekily. "I wouldn't have known."

Sandaime laughed heartily, taking a seat on the English teacher's soft couch. "You do an old man well. I must admit seeing such an outpouring from the student body was good for this old heart."

Kakashi shrugged. "It wasn't my original intent, but when the opportunity presented itself, I ran with it."

"But you kept the students silent about it."

"No," the English teacher smiled. "You did that. They wanted to surprise you. I didn't really do that much."

"You never take enough credit."

"Mah."

Sandaime merely smiled.

A bundle of energy burst into the room.

"Grandpa!"

"Get back here you little brat!" another bundle of energy shouted as it arrived.

"Leave me alone! What good are you? You don't know anything!"

"Hey! I'm in seventh grade and getting As, can you say the same thing?"

"Naruto," Kakashi stated in a low teasing tone, "who's older and more mature?"

"Me!"

"Then act like it."

Naruto pouted.

"Konohamaru," the Old Man eased his way to his feet. "What have I told you about running around?"

"But Grandpa! This loser--"

"Hey!"

"And what have I told you about being polite?"

The eight-year-old huffed and crossed his arms.

"Now I think you've had enough cake," Sandaime continued to smile broadly. "Let's go home."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** When you have a love and respected teacher, yes people can go through these lengths. I doubt either of us will be that adored, it takes a rare type of person for that. And yes, administrators can go through the same crap that teachers can go through. In some cases, it's worse because they deal directly with the board of education and town council. A fun chapter over all, however. Did any of you know what the trap was before it happened?

Now, to the astonishing FOURTEEN reviews we got for this chapter. (You guys rock...)

**Sarimia**: Hehe. We've had students hand in work that was only two or three sentences. They were shocked when we told them they weren't done. Samurai to Anime? Sounds like a fun class. Take good notes for us! Hehehe.

**SpiderWench**: Yes, yes, poor Sasuke. Maybe in a decade or so he'll look back and laugh. Or not. Gomen about the dog.

**The-Trapped-Phoenix**: We're glad we make you laugh. Hopefully this was another smile-worthy chapter. And we're very glad you appreciate the new perspective of things and can learn from it in your own way. No, there won't be any pairings overtly stated, but if you squint, you can see some preferences showing up, such as Kaka/Iru, Asuma/Kurenai, etc. The actual anime/manga doesn't really have any open pairings, so we followed their lead and left everything open to interpretation. You can probably see any pairing you want, which should make a variety of readers happy. (Or at least, that's the hope.)

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: While we are definitely pro SasuSaku, the only person involved last chapter who thought that Sasuke and Sakura were together was Lee. Sasuke isn't ready for ANYTHING beyond friendship at the moment, so he and Sakura are just friends for the moment. In a few years, they'll probably cross that hurdle, but for now, no romance. Sorry to disappoint you. -.- However, we'll try to keep the work good.

**InoShikaCho**: Come on, with all of the Rookie Nine flitting about, we had to include Team Gai eventually. Neiji, obvoiusly, had a firm mentioning with Hinata's arc, and TenTen's been mentioned in passing a few times. This was Lee's big contribution. As for feild day, you'll see next chapter.

**FuyuKoneko**: Yes, Gai is quite a character to get used to. However, even in the manga, he had a some serious moments. Once you understand his teaching style, he's actually quite clever to always come across as a goofball. If Gai ever appears in a fanfic as a teacher, he'sjust stupid. We both doubt that strongly. He's passionate, certainly, and comes across strongly, but that doesn't make him an idiot.

**Midnight13**: Why should we feel guilty for luring a student away when it's the student's responsibility to stay on task? Hehehe. Gomen. Yeah, our students seem surprised when they realize that we like watching Naruto, or anime in general. We're confused, what's wrong with a Naruto story being mature and aiming to teach? A story, ultimately, is whatever the creator wants. We wanted something to make people think, so we strived for it. We were just lucky enough to (apparently) achieve it. As for not having as many reviews as you think we should have, we just shrug. We're not well-known Naruto authors, nor do we have any pariings that epople seem to search for first and foremost. As such, we're somewhat background. Actually, none of our stories get many reviews, so we'll just chalk it up to having a highly refined audience as opposed to the general masses, ne? That doesn't mean we don't appreciate the ego-boosting. We do. We really, really do. We needed it rather desperately lately, and nice chuncky reviews like yours are always a balm on weathered emotions. A "human" feel, eh? Well, these stories are real, and there wasn't really any doctoring needed. As we've said to many different reviewers, this story wrote itself. Even the Naruto characters fell into what was needed very easily (which goes to show how well defined they were to begin with.) As far as avoiding the common "stereotypes" of the characters (like Sasuke being an ice-prince), we just don't get that when we watch the show. We don't see Sasuke as cold and uncaring, but passionate and impulsive. Sakura is very mother-like and sensitive, while Ino starts immature and grows when she sees the tragedy of others. Maybe we're just quirky in that we see things differently, but we form our own opinions about characters before delving into fanfiction representations. Hehe, melodrama without being melodramatic. Like we've kinda been discussing with **ExplosvieNoteNinja**, life has plenty of it's own dramas. These stories (unless stated otherwise) are TRUE. The drama in them happened. But if anyone were to try and make a movie out of real-life, it might be viewed as boring. That doesn't mean that there isn't substance to life. For those in poor districts, this is their reality, survival. Hehehe, the small details. Frankly, we'd probably go insane if it weren't for the smaller things. As for being a slave to stereotypes, they aren't always a bad thing. They can give you a basis to work from. But that doesn't mean you have to stick to them. You can experiment in your own right and come across your own conclusions. It's just a matter of breaking out of the mold, or even stepping outside for a moment. Yes, food fights canbe a few minutes of unbridled fun, until you sit around in messy clothes for a few hours before you can change. Experience can be a great teacher. And finally, (as if this novel of a reply weren't long enough...) neither of us have heard of Anna Karenina. We'll keep an eye out for her work.

**Abibliophobia:** Glad you liked. Hope this chapter was enjoyable too. We have that fear too.

**Jill BioSkop:** To your confusion about why Itachi would come after Sasuke, we (naturally...) have a few things to point out. Abusive people often don't have any concept that they're being abusive. They don't see their actions as detrimental or hurtful, and really don't understand why the person they abuse is so dead set on getting away. Some abusers will be all apologies afterward, but others like Itachi feel perfectly justified in their actions and have no inkling that hitting another person repeatedly is so psychologically damaging. Itachi is hurt and angered that his only remaining family has been taken away from him,even more so because there is a restaining order on him. He sincerely wants to be together as a family, and can't understand why the world is keeping him apart. Itachi, in particular, in the anime shows discontent towards the Uchiha and being fit into a mold, is perhaps ODD (Oposition Defiant Disorder) or, since he doesn't completely understand emotions other than his own, a touch of autism or even sociopathy/psychopathy/anitsocial personality disorder/whatever name they use nowadays. Put that in the world of this fic, and, well, suddenly his behavior makes sense. He want's baby brother back, but doesn't understand why Sasuke runs, and is pissed that the kid does; tries to get him back in the supermarket and is stopped by Kakashi, and so he takes it up a level and brings help in the name of Kisame so he and Sasuke can be a family again. In a way, that's even more tragic and messed up than him simply having a possessive brother complex where Sasuke is his punching bag. (deep breath) Meanwhile, yeah, Kakashi and his team sure were admirable. You can practically hear the show's successful mission music when you read that scene, ne? And yes, poor Sandaime has his own world of problems, but he's been principal for a long time, I expect he knows how to deal with it. Asuma helps when he can, and Konohamaru is Konohamaru, Sandaime's inspiration. Glad you liked Gai's handling of last chapter, and yes; poor Sasuke and Sakura were probably very awkward with each other for several hours after all of that. As for your doubts about a happy ending... we're not telling.

**Cami-of-the-Sky-Village:** Glad you like this chapter, and that Stayin' Alive has a whole new meaning for you.

**Af:** No, sadly, this story will end with the end of the school year. The poor kids have been through enough,and besides, it would be nigh on impossible for Kakashito follow everyone next year, his hands will be full with the next bunch of kidsto nurture.

**Adele19:** As always, glad you love the story, and your theories on what Gaara's problems are. Sorry about your own lockdown story, those can be scary, sometimes.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja:** We're so glad you could smile with Sasuke. No, not everyone likes Kakashi; he's nothing if not eccentric, and anybody can be rubbed the wrong way by him, whether he intends it or not. And thanks for reading the other two stories, there's actually a third on the way, but we're still proofing it, so you and everyone else look forward to it!

As always, thanks to everyone for reviewing!

Next week: Field Day and Field Trip. What could possibly go wrong...?


	35. Week 34

**May: Week Thirty-Five**

* * *

Monday was Memorial Day, and Kakashi spent it, per usual, at the memorial. The distraction of Sandaime's party, good though it was, had left Kakashi to angst over the entire three-day weekend with his memories. He didn't eat at all, and his sleep was disturbed with dreams of memories rather than dreams of worries about the kids. When he came to school Tuesday, he was haggard. Iruka and Gai both talked to him between classes, Gai because he knew about what military holidays did to Kakashi and Iruka because he was finally starting to figure it out. Asuma graced team time with pizza, and, being his first meal in almost four days, Kakashi ate ravenously.

"Field Day," he said finally, after his third slice. "The Student Council has great ideas but not necessarily finances; the eighth grade, if you recall from last year, doesn't do a lot of buying." He pulled out Sakura's notes and tossed them onto the table they were eating around. Iruka picked it up and started leafing through it.

"A lot of this is in-house stuff, then," he said.

"Exactly," the Scarecrow replied. "I talked with the cafeteria last week when I was hiding all those cakes, and they've already placed the orders for the pies, and they've been slowly stock-piling the sandwiches. When they realized how little money they had, Neji really started nickel and dime-ing what they had. There's going to be an inflatable obstacle course and a slide, and the rental of the DJ/karaoke team and their equipment. The rest are scheduled, simple games. Announcements will be done through the PA system so everyone can hear it - in theory, at any rate - and it will all be ignored while the kids go off to do their own thing. I hear a few of the eighth graders are going to bring their guitars, so we might had some kind of impromptu jam session or rock off."

"Three legged race, pillowcase race, pie eating contest," Kurenai listed off as she tread through. "Who's bringing in the hula hoops?"

"That would be Gai."

"Indeed! Enclosed in my closet in my room is more than just my coat and weights for sports, indeed, I have a plethora of hula hoops and other gymnastics equipment!"

"He's exaggerating, of course," Kakashi said glibly. "He has the hula hoops, Asuma has all the board games, and the gym is going to provide some mats.

"This is actually pretty well organized," Asuma said. "I'm surprised the eighth grade was able to manage this. They all hate each other."

"Two reasons," Kakashi explained, "One: it's Field Day. It's a sacred ritual, and not even the eighth grade is going to mess it up. Two: the secretary is Sakura."

"That's right, I keep forgetting," Asuma said. "Are there any other seventh graders in the student council?"

"Not really, at least nobody brave enough to make an effort, and they're on the other team."

"And the field trip?" Gai asked. "How do preparations fare?"

"We're all set," Asuma said, grinning. "We got the last of the slips this morning. All that's left is making the announcements in the morning reminding them to dress appropriately and to bring money to buy their lunch or bring it themselves."

"Same goes for Field Day," Iruka said. "Remember last year when they forgot, and everyone was dressed in bikinis and swim trunks?"

Everyone but Kurenai shuddered.

The science teacher ran her hand through her thick tresses. "I don't know how we're going to get any work out of them for the next two days."

"We'll manage," Kakashi said. "We always do."

* * *

Thursday dawned bright and sunny. The thermometer by Kakashi's kitchen window was already well past sixty, and promised a day that would flirt with eighty, perfect for outdoors activities, as the weatherman happily chirped. The sun glinted repeatedly off of the ice crystal ornament hanging off his rearview, and as Kakashi parked under a tree in the parking lot and stepped out of his car, breathing in the last traces of tree pollen and its scent of spring, he could only feel Good Things.

It was a pseudo half day; the first four periods were needed to set up the track field directly behind their school, and Kakashi and the rest of his team were thankful they only had two periods to teach. Even early in the morning, the entire student body was abuzz about when the got outside, what they were going to do, etc. Prep arrived, and Kakashi hid himself deep in the bowels of the library to do some reading while he had the chance. Fourth period, SSR, Kakashi knew better than to try and maintain silence. He just sat at his front desk as everyone continued babbling about Field Day. Some had, apparently, snuck out the previous period to oogle whatever was out there. Sakura answered questions as best she could when they realized she knew what was to come, and, surprised at her sudden popularity, didn't quite know what to do with herself until Sasuke started throwing covert glares when the other students got annoying.

"Would all volunteers for Field Day please report to the gymnasium for assignments."

And that was how it started. Twenty minutes later they called the school out by grades. Kakashi hung back at first, as did Asuma, to make sure they'd shaken all the kids out of the rooms. The teachers each had assignments, too. The computer teacher, for example, despised the sun and had volunteered to help guard the school and kick kids back outside as she found them. Technically, Kakashi was in charge of supervising the karaoke stand, but he knew for a fact that the DJs knew what they what doing and had no intentions of interfering.

Once he and Asuma were certain the school was empty, they wandered into the cafeteria. Tables had been set up and four lunch ladies manned the thinning student population as they grabbed their sandwich and condiments that were on display. Kakashi grabbed some sliced peaches and an egg sandwich and a bottle of water before turning around and grabbing an apple, too.

Stepping out of the back of the gym and into the sun, Kakashi took a moment to adjust his vision as he saw the track field.

Two thousand students were filling it out, massive clumps in certain areas while the random kid flittered about, others in smaller clusters while still others were crowding around various activities. The teachers were all sitting around the gym, happy at any distance they had from the students as they had their own adult picnic area. There was already a veritable mob around the karaoke station already, and the music was playing on full blast, deafening the kids near it but barely heard across the field. Munching on his sandwich, Kakashi made his way down the small hill, watching as several students spread out beach blankets or just stretched out on the grass and enjoyed the sun. It was an amalgamation of the four grades, and it took a while to pick out his students.

The first set he spied once his feet hit the track itself. He had taken perhaps three steps before wandering off it and back up the hill, where, stretched out on a blanket, Shikamaru lay with his legs crosses, on of them bobbing up and down. The Scarecrow bent over into the boy's field of vision, and he scowled.

"Do you mind, sensei?" he asked. "You're obstructing the view of the clouds."

Kakashi looked up. "There aren't any clouds."

"There will be in about twenty minutes."

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

Chouji appeared and quickly sunk onto the blanket with his best friend. "I was able to grab the last bag of chips, want some?"

"I'm good for now," the Nara boy replied. "Wake me when the clouds start showing up."

"Okay. Hey! Shino! Come have a seat with us!"

Kakashi let the two, now three, boys to their own devices as he wandered back to the track and started making a circuit. Halfway through the turn he saw the eighth graders with their guitars, in addition to some seventh graders from the other team and, oddly enough, Ino. They were just warming up for now, so Kakashi left them alone. The inflatable obstacle course already had a long line of students waiting their turn to run through it, and Kakashi spied Tenten and Neji from the eighth grade in line, tall trees in the sea of fifth graders they were amidst.

Further down the straightaway he saw the relay race. Currently, Kiba was carrying a petrified Hinata around a cone before another pair, Naruto and a sixth grader, cut in and the pair took a horrible tumble.

"Naruto!! Come back here so I can take a bite out of you!" Kiba howled before his face changed and, "Ah!! Hinata, are you okay?"

But the grey-eyed girl couldn't reply; she was clutching her sides from laughing so hard.

Moving on down the track, Kakashi saw a large mob of students just talking, and as he hit the other turn, he started to hear the music from the karaoke. Wandering over, he saw Rock Lee with the mike, singing what sounded vaguely like "Man, I Feel Like a Woman." He couldn't be sure at first because he was so horribly off key, but as he got closer he realized the entire mob of students were singing along, on full volume no less. Navigating through the crowd, he checked in with the DJs, the slots were already half full with names and songs. Willing to try anything once, and thrilled at the idea of torturing the students, he signed his name, along with a few others, for the last slot for the longest song he could find.

That taken care of, now he had to find said people. He finished coming around the bend and saw Iruka sitting amongst a large crowd of special ed students, most of whom he didn't recognize.

"Yo!" he said over the din. The karaoke music could still be heard. "How good are you at singing?"

"Terrible, why?"

"I just singed us up."

"Kakashi, you didn't!!"

"I did," he said with glee.

"I hate you."

"Not nearly as much as you love me," he replied.

"I love you too!" a girl said, throwing her arms around Iruka. There was a chorus of "Me, too!"s and all the students were soon wrapping around the special education teacher.

Passing by a trashcan, he tossed the wrapper of his sandwich and peaches before biting into his Macintosh. He rounded back to the straightaway of the track, and he found Sasuke trying, and failing, to avoid the gaggle of girls that were following him. Feeling gracious, he called out, "Yo! I was just looking for you. Come with me."

Sasuke did so, and the girls quickly departed.

"You must hate days like this," he said.

"Hn."

"Sullen to the last, I see," he said lightly. "Let's see if we can find a safe hiding place for you." He wandered up the hill and to the teachers, where he saw Asuma and Kurenai chatting on the end of a table full of teachers. "Yo!" he said lightly.

"Hey, you enjoying yourself?" Asuma asked.

"Thoroughly," the Scarecrow replied. "How good are the two of you at singing?"

Asuma paled. "You did _not_ just sign us up for that karaoke thing, did you?"

"Last song of the day."

"I hate you!"

"Iruka said the exact same thing," the English teacher replied. "How well do you know Bohemian Rhapsody?"

"I love that song," Kurenai said. "This'll be fun!"

"See?" Kakashi said. "You should learn from her example. Where's Gai?"

"Probably out amongst the competition," Go-sama said sullenly. "I can't believe you're making me _sing_."

"Oh," the science teacher said, "Get off yourself. You're going to enjoy it and you know it."

News delivered, Kakashi wandered back down the hill and took another bite of his apple. "So," he said to Sasuke, "what do you like to do when you hide?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I usually just go somewhere quiet."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The pair turned around to see Sakura running up to them, panting. "I finally found you!" She paused, trying to catch her breath. Finally, she said, "I've been looking everywhere for you. The three-legged races are starting in ten minutes, and Gai-sensei wants to challenge you to the race. He's already found a partner in Lee-kun and is shouting about how you won't be able to. Oh, hi Sasuke-kun," she added, smiling at the boy.

Sasuke sensed the impending doom, but Kakashi and already clamped a hand on his shoulder. "I've got my partner right here," he said happily, "just let me finish my apple and we'll be right there."

And so, ten minutes later, Sakura was tying Kakashi's left let to Sasuke's right, the boy glaring murderous daggers at his teacher, while next to them Gai was making loud proclamations about beating Kakashi. "I'm going to murder you," the boy next to him said.

"You're going to lighten up," Kakashi said, patting Sasuke's shoulders. "I know it's possible for you to smile, and it's past time you did. Look at these two, over here," he added, seeing Naruto and Hinata come up on their other side. The Hyuga girl was blushing furiously. "They're having the time of their lives, right?"

"You got that right, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, tightening his headband. "I am so totally going to beat you, Sasuke-teme!"

To this, the boy leveled a healthy grin. "You have to catch me, first," he said.

Ah, much better.

The day was very warm, and bright, and Kakashi didn't really feel like holding back, and neither did Sasuke. The pair wiped the floor with any an all competitions, from the three-legged race to the pillowcase race to the relay race to the egg-carrying contest to the water balloon volleyball. Chouji beat them both in the pie-eating contest, but that was expected. Over the next several hours, Kakashi and Sasuke made several tours around the track, watching as Shino lectured on the ants that were crawling on the blanket he was on to a snoring Shikamaru. Ino and the other guitar players were having an impromptu concert as the wandering middle schooler heard them and started gathering. Ino was, of course adoring the attention. Kiba and Chouji had gotten water balloons from somewhere and were pelting them at any and everybody that wasn't a teacher. Sakura, her duties complete, was picnicking with Hinata and Tenten and (interestingly given Hinata was there) Neji, and the karaoke was still filled to bursting with singers. Kurenai had found a nice sun-warmed place on the inflatable slide, manning it by sitting on the warm plastic, her bare feet nestled deep in the safety netting at the base of the slide. Kakashi went down twice, Sasuke once and headfirst no less. Asuma, after the pie contest, was seen chasing several students around for whatever reason, and Gai made regular appearances to challenge Kakashi to some ludicrous contests.

It wasn't long before the day was winding down, and Kakashi slowly gather up his team for the karaoke. Sasuke, now smiling openly, had appeared with the rest of his team, and several other seventh and eighth graders to watch.

"Behold! I shall sing louder and better than you Kakashi to once again take the lead against you."

"Just try not to break the mike," Asuma complained. Iruka was just scowling while Kurenai was taking deep breaths and singing the scale, warming up her voice for the song.

The DJ signaled the start, and after the introduction came:

"Is this a real life...

"Is this a fantasy...

It was the only two lines that were sung perfectly in synch. Gai, focusing on volume more than anything else, spent most of his time screeching at the top of his lungs. Asuma and Iruka were trying to sing, but neither knew the words, even with the teleprompter, and kept messing up or missing a beat. Iruka, erstwhile worker that he was, got more and more frustrated until he just gave up and started lip-synching. Asuma meanwhile kept throwing glares. Both of these stopped, however, about halfway through the song as the two started enjoying themselves. Asuma stepped back a bit and started playing air guitar - a feat nobody knew he could do, and Iruka soon followed up with air drums. Kurenai was actually singing, and was perhaps the only one who was any good at it. Kakashi meanwhile, would deliberately flip words around to throw off Gai, who was left suddenly wondering why it was "easy go, easy come" instead of visa versa.

The seventh and eighth grades were clapping to the beat, pointing and laughing and cheering the teachers on, catcalling and whistling when Gai's voice cracked or Kakashi mispronounced Beelzebub. The song ended with an uproarious cheer, the two grades rushing in on the teachers.

Not long afterwards the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

* * *

Friday also dawned bright and cheery, and after all the fun he had yesterday, Kakashi was happier than he had been in months. He actually skipped down the halls, eliciting several stares from students and faculty alike before he wandered into his homeroom, Iruka having already opened it.

"Sensei, I have to call my mom!"

"I forgot my suntan lotion."

"I forgot my shades!"

"I forgot my hat."

"I forgot my camera!"

"I forgot my bathing suit!!"

Kakashi sighed. Kids!

He stepped out into the hall and raised his voice. "Any an all students that need to call a parent to get something they forgot, please come to my room and line up at the front desk." He wandered back in and waited as easily two-dozen students pounded up to him. He let them go in pairs and threes to go to the office. Technically, students could use the phones in the rooms if they knew how, but Kakashi was never fond of the idea and so kicked them to poor Shizune. He called the office after he sent out the first two, Naruto and Chouji, to let her know and to apologize for it. She didn't seem to mind at all, saying she had plenty of phones.

"Sensei, were are we supposed to meet?"

"Homeroom first, and then we'll take you to the buses," he said for the hundredth time.

Everyone was in shorts, denim or khaki, with light shirts. The girls on occasion sported the strings of a bathing suit around their neck or under their sleeves. Shades and hats abounded, the boys with baseball and the girls with something fancier. Sakura had a straw hat with a silk cherry blossom on it, toting a large whicker bag that no doubt held her lotion and lunch and other amenities. Three or four parent chaperones had already arrived, and Kakashi kicked them to their appropriate homeroom.

The bell rang for homeroom, and Kakashi took attendance quickly, folding up the piece of paper and tucking into his wallet for later use. "You're going to the buses by homeroom," he explained. "While I doubt any of you will wander off between here and there, we're going to take attendance again when we get on the bus - and with three homerooms per bus that will take a while. I expect you to be quiet so everyone can be heard when they say 'here.' We're going to do this again when we leave, so remember to look for me in order to get into the right bus. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sensei! Can we get going now?"

The Scarecrow grinned. "Remember to be quiet in the halls, or so help me you'll spend the day here and not with us."

Threat in place, his homeroom walked silently down to and then past the main office to the large double doors, where Iruka was already standing, holding them open. Four Greyhound buses stood waiting for them, and Kakashi calmly walked up to the front bus, tucking himself into the front seat with Asuma as he watched the kids filter into the buses. The volume was already rising to deafening pitch. Kurenai soon followed suit with her class, and once everyone was seated Asuma got their attention. Kakashi gave his attendance sheet to the math teacher, and waited until role call was done. "Everyone here?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Good." Kakashi stepped off the bus and went to the next, where Gai's booming voice was taking role.

When finished, Gai turned and gave a flashing grin. "My rival, all youths are present!"

Kakashi nodded and went to the next bus, comprised entirely of the other team, and then the fourth. Once everyone was accounted for, Kakashi went back to the lead bus. "Let's get started," he said happily, and the driver put it in gear as the buses rolled out of the school parking lot. The teachers all stood in their seats and glared appropriately at the students until the pulled onto the highway. Kurenai and Asuma immediately disappeared into their seats, pulling out music and a sudoku book respectively. Kakashi wandered up the aisle for a bit before finding and empty seat and took that, pulling out his beloved book. He tugged himself into a slouch, and it wasn't long before the din of the students fell away and he was immersed in the world of his favorite book.

It was a little over two hours to drive to the amusement park. When they pulled up, Kakashi and the students swelled out of the buses. A teacher from the other team had been smart and brought a megaphone, using the oversized cone to get the student's attention and put them in their assigned groups. It took perhaps twenty minutes for them to get processed, stamped, and into the amusement park, but once that was complete the day officially started and the seventh grade of Konoha Middle School went to town.

Kakashi gathered his group at the cotton candy stand and simply said, "Be here by quarter of three - that's two-forty-five - or we leave without you. Dismissed."

And they all disappeared. Well, almost all of them. Three particular students hung back before walking up to him. "Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, "Do you think we could spend the day with you?"

The English teacher could only grin.

The four of them decided to take turns picking rides, and after a quick round of rock-paper-scissors, Sakura got to pick first. Frowning, she decided on the Ferris Wheel first. Kakashi quickly bought a map, and the three of them used the wheel and the map to determine the best course of action. Naruto, who chose next, wanted to go immediately on the roller coaster, but Kakashi pointed out on the wheel that there was already a huge line, and that they wanted to economize their time. The young blond finally decided on a different speed ride, and by the time the Ferris wheel was over, they'd had a route planned on their map.

It was quickly found out that Sakura didn't have the stomach for the more adventurous rides, a source of great frustration for her, but Kakashi more than made up for it, because while the boys went on the big-boy rides, the English teacher stayed with Sakura and offered a colorful audio commentary of what the boys were most likely thinking at different points. He made his voice nice and squeaky for Naruto, and deep and gloomy for Sasuke, and soon the girl was in complete hysterics, clutching her sides in laughter. It made the boys curious when they got off their rides, but Kakashi could only grin blithely, and Sakura couldn't repeat any of it without becoming incoherent with laughter.

The slower paced rides turned out great, however. Sakura and Kakashi had both decided on the merry-go-round, and they went on it twice to annoy Naruto and Sasuke. The water rides were great fun, and after riding around in the plastic log, Naruto spied a shoe floating in the water. When they got off the ride they walked around and, after some creative fishing, were able to skim it out. Not sure what to do with it, they gave it to the ticket booth; Kakashi suggesting that with some salt it would make a great soup. It was about then that Naruto's stomach growled, and looking at his watch they all decided it was time for lunch.

The section on the map that said Concession Stands, they all agreed, should have been rewritten as Restaurants. Hot dogs was the meal of the day, everyone with different toppings: ever eccentric Kakashi with relish and ranch dressing he'd grabbed from another stand, Sasuke with just ketchup, Naruto with mayonnaise and bacon bits, and Sakura with mustard. This was in addition to the jumbo sodas and the extra large plate of fries. Even with an empty pit like Naruto it took them over an hour to eat. The Scarecrow just closed his eyes and listened as the three of them gossiped.

With great glee he listened to them wondering if he was awake, Naruto planning on pulling some kind of trick, but just as he was inches above the Scarecrow's head with the ketchup bottle, Kakashi snapped open his eyes and told them that was enough of that.

"You were awake the whole time?!" the blond asked incredulously.

"Of course. Couldn't you tell?"

To give themselves time to digest, they walked around the park for a while, pausing as they ran into another set of students or to take pictures with Sakura's camera. In a similar vein, they found a photo booth and the four all piled in to take pictures. Naruto and Kakashi had silent contests to see who made the best face, but ultimately Sasuke had won because Kakashi had made a teasing remark about him and Sakura. It irritated Naruto to no end when the photos came out and he realized this, and demanded a rematch, which Sasuke flatly refused to do.

Finally, the rollercoaster line had thinned, and they all got in line to go on it. Sakura was determined to at least do _this_, and she shuffled in next to Kakashi while the attendant fastened the safety bar.

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked from behind.

"This is worth feeling queasy over," she said, a nervous but otherwise bright smile on her face.

"Well, it's a wood rollercoaster, that should help," Naruto offered from in front.

The slowly started rolling and clinking their way up the forty-five degree incline, and Sakura unconsciously grabbed at Kakashi's hand as color drained from her face.

"Sakura, don't look directly ahead, look sideways, and focus on the other side of the park; it might help."

"Okay, senseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeii!!" They shot down and everyone started happily screaming. Naruto had his hands up and flailing, laughing and giggling all the way. Bobbing up and down, spinning and whipping this way and that, Kakashi could hear very little because Sakura was screaming in his ear, repeating, "Oh my GOD!!" over and over.

When the ride was over, the boys immediately helped Kakashi with pulling Sakura out. Her face was as green as her eyes, and her legs held her weight for all of three seconds before she sank to the ground and she started retching. One of the attendants was very helpful, ushering the four to a more private place for Sakura to be sick and offering a paper bag - whether to gag into or breath into Kakashi wasn't sure.

Sasuke ran to the concession stands and came back with ice cream to help settle her stomach, and the four of them sat on a bench and people-watched with their cones in hand.

"That was so stupid!" Naruto was shouting to Sakura. "Queasy is one thing, you didn't say you were going to get sick!"

"I didn't think I was going to," Sakura muttered, a hand holding her abdomen while she leaned back on the bench.

"You two can scold her later," Kakashi said lightly, "This is about having fun, remember?"

Naruto and Sasuke refused to go on another ride for an hour to make sure Sakura was feeling better, and finally they swallowed their disgust and offered to ride the merry-go-round again to make up to the rollercoaster gone wrong. Both Sakura and Kakashi silently agreed to be completely obnoxious about it.

In no time, it seemed, that two-thirty rolled around, and Kakashi guided them back to the cotton candy stand and they began waiting for the rest of the group to show up. They did in pairs and threes, and by two-fifty, Kakashi had the same number of heads he'd had at the beginning; and so he lead them back to the buses (which were now stifling after sitting out in the sun for so long). Asuma was already there, filing his kids in.

Once everyone was loaded in, Kurenai took attendance and everyone was present. Kakashi made his way down the buses to check. It was in Gai's bus that he saw at least one head missing: Iruka.

"Where is he?" he asked the Green Beast.

"Two students from the other team are not here," he replied. "He's reentered the park to see if he can find them. A boy and a girl."

"Do you want me to go in looking for them?"

"And risk you getting lost in the bowels of such a place?" Gai asked, "No, Iruka knows one of them, he'll know where to look."

And so the wait started. The other buses had perfect attendance, and so he merely waited in the front of his bus, keeping his eyes on the entrance. It took perhaps twenty minutes, and he could hear the kids in his bus wondering what had happened. But finally, Iruka came storming out of the amusement park, face black as a thundercloud, as he ushered two shamed students in front of him. Kakashi nodded his head but he doubted the special education teacher saw him as he followed the students up into the bus. Entering his own bus, Kakashi could see through the windows the sharp gesticulations of Iruka as he no doubt scolded the hell out of the two students.

The ride back was blissfully quiet. The energy of the day slowly seeping out of the students as they happily recounted events to each other and gossiped. Team 7 was sitting around him, and he closed his eyes and half dozed to their melodious voices. With the late start they would be back in the school parking lot a little before six, and Kakashi would make the generous announcement to remind them that finals started Monday, enjoying the looks of shock on their faces to tide him over for the weekend.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This was a smile chapter.

**InoShikaCho**: Hm, explode? Not quite as spectacularly as previous chapters, but the wheels of progress were held up by a pair of wandering students.

**HugesHanajimaHilariaHypocrite**: No, we don't keep up with the manga. We watch what airs on Cartoon Network, mostly because we don't have the money as lowly substitutes in order to invest in the mega-long anime/manga. Yes, there are places online to find such things, but we'd need free time for that. Free time is a rare and wonderous thing, greatly appreciated in its fleeting nature. It's good to know that our portrayal of him is true to the manga, even if we didn't know it when we wrote this. Given how little screen time Itachi has had when we wrote this (which is Sasuke's skewed veiw from the Valley of the End and his confrontation with Naruto and Jiraiya, and earlier with Kakashi), he's a hard one to figure out. However, we have worked with abusive families, and in that sense, it's pretty easy to point out the twisted nature within Itatchi's elusive mindset.

**Sarimia**: Yes, the school needed a break. Kakashi's eye level is only on the seventh grade, we've seen bits and pieces of what's been going on in other grades, but we don't really know how the whole school year has been. As such, this was well times in more wasy than one. Micah, eh? Haven't heard that name since the old Western, _The Rifleman_. We definitely envy you and your lessons. Wish we coulda been there. Still, we're glad you had fun.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Grinning is a good thing. We all need to grin for at least an hour every day to improve our health and disposition. At least, that's what we believe. Precisely. Only two chapters to go. This baby is about ready to put to bed. Can't say that we like spice cake all that much. Chocolate cake with white frosting, however, is a different matter. Or apple pie. With vanilla ice cream.

**JillBioSkop**: Well, it seems you get a fourth Naruto plushie of your choice. We hope you're showing them enough love. Which have you chosen, anyway? You predicted a kid getting lost and getting on the bus at the last possible minute, and voila. This actually happened to Mirror in middle school. She was trying to be early (by about 15 minutes), but got turned around in the park. She was alone and trying very hard to ask the people at the stands how to exit the park, but nobody helped her. She was found by one of the teachers out looking for her and got quite the scolding in front of the buses.. She tried to be 15 minutes early but instead held everyone up for about a half hour. Alas, we don't know Itatchi's reason for killing off his clan... so we can't comment. Yes, with all the doom and gloom, it was nice to have a happy surprise for a change. It was still somewhat bittersweet, but it was much better than recent chapters have been. (CoughCoughBloodyAprilCoughCough) As you saw, feild day was about a little inter-team bonding, (and torture). We'll actually be getting more in-depth with things next chapter. Hope you enjoy our last two chapters.

**SpiderWench**: Yes, many things can go wrong. What we chose was relatively minor compared to how down the toilets things have been. No, there will be nothing more on Gaara's diagnosis. We just don't know. We never found out about the kid Gaara was based off of, so trying to make any kind of diagnosis would be forced and possibly inaccurate. So we'll leaveit as is. Hey, what's wrong with Massachussettes? We have relatives there! Hope your teachers enjoy.

**Bibliophilist**: Yes, Kakashi plotting parties does seem somehow, characteristic of him. Especially when you consider how he'd go about it. Will Kakashi and Iruka end up together in this universe? YES. In this story itself? NO. While we are firm Kaka/Iru fans, by trying to stick to one pairing, you almost automatically open the flame wars for those who are vehemently against. So we try to keep any and all pairings ambigous. Open to interpretaton. You could see just about any couple in this fic and, if you believe it, that's perfectly fine. We have our preferences, but we'll keep with the spirit of the manga and leave it open for you to see what you want tos ee.

Thank you to all our readers. Next week: Finals.


	36. Week 35

**June: Week Thirty-Six**

* * *

The prior week had been heavenly. Kakashi had loved how well Field Day and the Field Trip went. After such a hellish year, it was a well-needed boost to morale. He was practically skipping down the halls Monday and hummed tunelessly. His shoulder was healing nicely, but after all the excitement of Thursday and Friday, it was irritating him, and so he wore a sling and was planning to remove it a bit more permanently later in the week. The kids looked at him, some with a small amount of guilt, but the Scarecrow was in too fine a mood to care. He just wanted the feel-good feeling to last. It was the first week of June, only this week and half of the following week before school was let out completely. He knew it wouldn't last, someone was going to have an emergency for him to deal with, but for now, he reveled in the happiness that surrounded him.

Unfortunately, the students didn't seem to share in his almost giddy feeling. They were all sulky and grumbling. Why? This was the week of finals. Students never went into such a horrid week with smiles on their faces. Not unless they were like Sakura and knew they'd ace every final there was. Thus, when Kakashi finally made it to his homeroom, most were furiously going over flash cards, notes, books, and each other to ensure they knew enough to not tank the last test of the year.

School breakfast was altered for finals, and was delivered to each homeroom. A caddy rolled into Kakashi's as he took attendance and his students flocked to it. Sasuke and Naruto weren't there, but then, Asuma would probably be holding them for homeroom this week. That was fine. Sakura sat with Kiba and was helping keep Hinata calm as she anxiously went through her materials.

Hesitantly, one of his students came up to ask about the schedule of finals. Granted, Kakashi had explained it at least a dozen times the previous week, but this wasn't exactly unexpected. So he walked to the front of his room and got everyone's attention to give the lowdown. The set up was similar to how the state tests went. The only difference was that Homeroom was extended so that they could have breakfast, and that lunch would be served at the end of the day. Of course, since most of the week was half days with make-ups in the afternoon, there was plenty of time for PPTs.

The first one on the agenda would be Kiba that afternoon. But as it happened, Kakashi ended up checking in with another student when he wasn't expecting it. When he was on his way down to get lunch, his keen ears picked up something distinct. There was shouting in the boy's bathroom. Only one person was shouting, and it sounded like Kankuro.

Curious (and hoping he wasn't about to break up a fist-fight), the Scarecrow entered. He was grateful that the teachers had separate bathrooms than the students, the graffiti was crude, disgusting, and in some cases inflammatory; the sinks were cracked and one had a faucet missing. There was a certain smell to the bathroom that the English teacher didn't particularly feel like identifying and he was careful not to trip over some of the cracked and broken tiles.

There were no students in the room save one, Kankuro, who was in the stall at the end. He was loudly yelling at something, but when Kakashi peeked under the doors, he noted that Kankuro was alone. That meant that the boy was using his cell phone. The Scarecrow sighed. The week of finals wasn't the best time to get into trouble.

"Ma, why aren't you listening to me?" Kankuro growled. "I will _not_ visit Dad over the summer... Ma, if you keep up that line of work you're going to get syphilis or worse. I won't leave you alone to get herpes... You _never_ have protection; you leave it for me to get it for you! Either that or a John... Stop running my life like you know what's best for me! You obviously don't... Listen, you're too busy being high to take care of yourself, so get a clue! I won't let you wind up dead in... Ma!... I'm not a baby any more, you whore, now lis... Fine, you bitch. Send me away. I won't come back."

There was a distinct snap as a cell phone was shut and Kankuro continued grumbling foul words under his breath. Kakashi rubbed his head. Well, it made sense why the kid was such a control freak; he had no control over his own life. This was, of course, assuming that the boy was being honest with concern and not making things up to hurt his mother. One could never be sure that he spoke the truth or not.

Kankuro opened the door of his stall to find Kakashi waiting there, hand out. The student growled something, slammed his mobile phone into Kakashi's hand and stormed out of the boy's room, already heading for the office. The English teacher followed after him, gave the phone to Shizune while Kankuro dropped into a chair, and gave quick lowdown of what he'd heard. No doubt he'd be called later on about it, but for now, his stomach was growling. He'd done his mandated reporting. Ebisu would investigate it thoroughly. Kakashi was just to busy this time of year to do it himself. The vice principal would be competent enough to do it.

Still... Kakashi sighed.

A short while later, the day had ended and the students were pouring out to the buses. Kakashi had done what he could to dig up information on their resident puppet master, but as expected, during finals and so late in the year, he wasn't turning up much. Students, his most reliable source of gossip and information, were too focused on tests and their own dramas to be of much help in uncovering dirt on Kankuro. Plus, being the puppet master of the grade, Kankuro wasn't likely to talk about himself outside of lies to cover anything he didn't want to share. The most likely to actually have information were Temari and Gaara. Gaara didn't go to their school any more and Temari wouldn't talk to him if he were the last person on earth.

So it was with a heavy sigh that he trudged down to guidance for the PPT with Kiba. Inside the conference room, Iruka and Kiba were already seated.

"You're late."

"Sorry, I was so in tune with the local grapevine I couldn't pull away. The grapes were delicious, but seedless."

Formality taken care of, Kakashi slouched into his chair. Kiba was pouring over his notes for the following day's exam, ignoring the both of them. It was probably the first year were he had the possibility of passing all subjects, and it looked like Kiba was trying in earnest to make that possibility a reality.

"The dad?" Kakashi quietly asked Iruka.

"On his way. Got delayed at the new job."

The Scarecrow nodded and opened his book. As they waited, Ebisu came in, making Kiba look up. The grown-ups talked quietly, letting Kiba study, as the English teacher gave a coded and brief synopsis of what he'd heard with Kankuro.

"Of course," Ebisu commented, "I have been unable to validate the statements that you've overheard. I will keep looking into the matter, but at this stage, I doubt we'll be able to say anything with certainty. I will know about it next year. I recommend letting the eighth grade teachers know about what you've overheard so that they might keep an eye on him."

"Already planning on it," Kakashi nodded. "And his phone?"

"He won't get it back until the last day of school."

"Good," Iruka said.

Shortly after that, Kiba's father came in. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. The previous occasions when he'd met with the Inuzuka patriarch, the man was greasy, dirty, and clearly worked with cars all the time. Now, however, while his hands still held the stains of regular work, he was in a clean shirt and jeans, the signs of summer heat already starting to stain certain areas.

Kiba looked up, but then went right back to trying to study. The Scarecrow rather doubted he could keep concentrating with conversation now going to be about him, but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.

"So, how's my boy doing?"

"Very well," Kakashi answered. "His grades have been very good, though he's recently took a bit of a dive in mathematics. If he studies and passes his finals, he won't have any summer school this year."

Kiba's father laughed. "Now that _would_ be nice."

"Indeed," Iruka agreed. "He's been doing very well this year. I know that next year is his triennial, so if his progress continues, you may want to consider exiting him from the program, as long as he still has a strong support structure." The special education teacher offered a wry grin. "Lately, I haven't had to do much for him. Just pull him to my room if a class is getting too loud. If this keeps up, he'll be able to handle things himself."

The Inuzuka man nodded gravely. "I'll keep an eye on him. I'm not sure if I want to exit him, but I'll take that under advisement."

"Excellent," Kakashi murmured as they continued discussing various concerns, mostly in how his classes would be the following year.

"Now," Kiba's dad smiled, "I've got something to share."

"Oh?" Iruka asked.

The man pulled out a piece of paper. Kakashi recognized it once he saw it and smiled broadly.

"My family and I now have an apartment."

"WHAT??" Kiba shouted, standing up so fast his study materials scattered across the table. "We have a _home_? Are you sure?"

His father smiled. "Why else do you think I was working all those extra hours? For my health?"

"_Daaaaad_!!"

But the whole room was grinning.

"We'll be moving in this weekend. You have to pass your finals first."

* * *

The following day, Tuesday, was a relatively light day for his team in terms of finals, since one of the periods being tested was C Period, their plan. Students were still in their frenzied attempts of cramming every last bit of information into their heads before taking the exam, and Kakashi took a certain level of comfort in that. It meant that there wasn't much in the way of inane chatter, and that most of them were focused. There were of course, students who just didn't give a damn and were going to fail, but that was a small percentage this year, it seemed.

Once Homeroom ended and the students raced out to take their final before they forgot what they'd studied, Kakashi wandered back down to the guidance conference room. There were, after all, a whole slew of PPTs this week. Iruka was almost a permanent fixture in the office, since he wasn't needed for any of the finals, so Kakashi had to greet him as such. When he entered, he dropped his jacket onto the special education teacher's head like it was a coat rack.

"KAKASHI!" he snapped.

"Oh? Iruka, are you there? I must have missed you."

Iruka growled something impolite.

"How troublesome." Kakashi turned to see Shikamaru and his father enter the room.

Nara and his son sat in the same places that Kiba and his father had occupied the previous afternoon. As expected, they discussed concerns, most of which were what to expect next year.

"Asuma-sensei signed me up for Algebra," Shikamaru scowled. "Much too troublesome."

Kakashi gave a knowing grin. "I rather doubt it. I think you'll enjoy it more than you think."

The boy scoffed.

"There is one concern," Iruka stated, "his grades were never that great in Social Studies, and if it keeps up, he's going to end up in summer school."

Nara looked down to his son and raised an eyebrow.

Shikamaru stared back flatly. After a moment, he finally said, "Summer school's too troublesome."

Nara turned back to the teachers. "It won't be a problem. He's either going to pass it, or he's not going on the family trip with the Akamichi later this summer."

"Troublesome..."

Kakashi grinned.

That afternoon, Kakashi sat himself down once more in the worn, cushy chairs of the guidance conference room.

"Why, Iruka, didn't I just see you here?"

Iruka glared. "Maybe."

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. "Who's next?"

"Chouji. Are you okay?"

"Just tired. I was trying to find out a few things from the gossip mill about Kankuro, but to no avail."

"This late in the year, that's unsurprising."

"But disappointing."

The two sat in silence for a while, waiting for Chouji and his parents. It was the end of the year and Kakashi's mind was slowly starting to settle into the lull that existed around the summer vacation. This was, on some levels dangerous, because it meant he was starting to lose his focus of what was going on around him. However, with students stuck in finals, very little was likely to happen. Still, it felt _good_ to start relaxing. For two-and-a-half months, he wouldn't have to worry about any students. He could rest and rejuvenate. Normally he taught summer school, but a teacher on the other team had volunteered ahead of him and Kakashi didn't mind taking the year off. Besides, knowing himself, he'd probably drop in.

"Hello," the Amamichi greeted as they arrived. Both parents sat on either side of their son.

"So," Chouji's father started. "We already know our son's going to summer school."

Iruka nodded. "Even with Shikamaru tutoring him, there was just no way to for him to make up everything he missed and still absorb it. But in his favor, Chouji's a good student when he puts his mind to it. With Shikamaru providing a basic familiarity, he should do just fine."

"Good," the mother replied. "And I can assure you that what happened this year will _never_ happen again."

"Now," the father continued, "how's he been in school? There's more to education than just the subject material."

Kakashi offered a rueful grin. "He was lucky that the mainstay of conversation when he returned was me and not him. Nobody even noticed him coming back to school aside from Shikamaru and Ino. If anyone else did, they didn't comment."

"As far as how it's been for him, why not just ask him?" Iruka added.

Chouji, suddenly the spotlight of the meeting, was caught off guard. He blinked and stammered for a moment, before finally answering. "People just leave me alone. Nobody really talks to me any more. That's probably for the best. Shikamaru's always been there, so I'm not alone. Ino's actually been kinda nice too."

"Good," Kakashi replied. "Now, I hear you're going on a trip with the Nara family?"

"Yes," Chouji's dad smiled. "Assuming his passes summer school."

"I will; I will!"

Kakashi couldn't help but grin. It was nice to see such a sharp turn around with the chubby child. Normally, after sinking to such a dark place, it was hard to get back on the right path. But if Chouji's parents kept a sharp eye and held him on a straight and narrow path, he might make it adulthood relatively healthy.

* * *

Wednesday proved to start off on a crazy note. There was, apparently, a fight on one of the buses that spilled onto the sidewalk in front of the school, drawing in a huge crowd. One of the participants was an eighth grader and the other was a sixth grader with a seventh grader from the other team as an aide. They both claimed it was the "stress of finals" that got them all rowdy, but Ebisu was already investigating the matter with his usual thorough precision.

The damage, however, was done. Homeroom was delayed in starting as many students were detained to explain what they saw, who started it, what sort of gossip was going around that might spark such a confrontation, etc. This meant that either the end of the half-day would be delayed, or at least one of the exam times would be cut short. Given how many students used every single minute of the final to finish the test and go over the results, several students were starting to panic that they'd fail the exam as a result.

The joys of sudden surprises.

It was Orochimaru who calmed the panicking student body by going over the PA system and announcing that any students who felt that the first exam of the day, which would be shortened by almost a half hour, was unfair in being cut so short, they could always take a make up Friday, when the scheduled make up days were instead. If they felt that was the case, they were go to the gymnasium where he had extra study sheets from each teacher for them to prepare.

Naturally, the Snake _didn't_ have extra study sheets, so the faculty was suddenly scrambling to email, phone in, or deliver instructions for any student who was coming down to get extra "study material". The only reason why Orochimaru had suggested the extra work was to make sure that the only students who ended up in the gym were those who were actually concerned about their grades, not students who just wanted to blow off a period. Kakashi could commend the plan, but the Snake's presentation sucked. It would have been nice if he'd told the teachers first.

Thankfully for the seventh grade, the first exam that day was E Period, their team time. So the Scarecrow finally sat down with his homeroom, already tired from the running around that he'd had to do since arriving to the bloody sidewalk that morning. He glanced around, noted who was absent in a tiny corner of his brain, and pulled out his book. He needed some down time.

The English teacher had read maybe a page before there was a polite cough in front of his desk.

"Yes?" he asked the pink head.

"Sensei," Sakura looked hesitant, "I need some advice."

"Oh?"

"Yes. See, my family is going to Boston for the Fourth. We spend the week with family, fireworks over the Charles River, Boston Pops, catch a show at the Shubert, Fenway Park, that sort of thing." Sakura ran a hand through her pink locks. "Well, I wanted to bring them with me, but I already took them with my family over vacation, and my parents don't think that they'll be well entertained with all my family up in Boston, and..."

"You want to make it up to Naruto and Sasuke."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how. Naruto doesn't really have a lot of money and Yondaime-san doesn't really have money to spare to loan him. Sasuke's got a large inheritance, but it's stuck in a trust until he turns twenty-one. I don't really know what to do with them that doesn't involve a lot of money, like going to the beach, or an amusement park, etc."

Kakashi smiled to himself. "Sakura, you're thinking on far to large a scale. How about a regular movie night?"

"Huh?"

"One night a week, the three of you go to the movies. See and critique whatever blockbuster is on, or maybe just rent a DVD at one of your homes. Not as expensive, but still does what you want."

The girl grinned. "Something that simple will really work?"

"I guarantee it."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"You're welcome. Now get back to studying."

Sakura laughed as she went back to her seat.

The day was quiet after such a chaotic morning. During the first exam of the day, Kakashi spent his time grading the last of the tests he didn't finish the previous day and entered them into his computer, making sure that those classes were completely done, save one or two who were waiting for make-ups. The grades were submitted. After that, he was back to proctoring exams, which had him looming over students to remind them that cheating wasn't an option. However, this was his F Period. Iruka had taken some of them across the hall to aide and proctor, and giving himself an enforced break from the string of PPTs he'd been sitting in on. With the class broken up and this class knowing better than to mess with him he was able to sit back and read for about two chapters at a time before cycling around the room again.

The bell rang, the seventh grade went down to lunch, and Kakashi marveled at some of the exams as he started grading. There were some really pleasant surprises. There were also some disappointments. Such was the case when grading exams. Most, however, remained what Kakashi expected, consistent with their grades through the year. Ebisu had interrupted a few times with questions about the fight that morning, but the Scarecrow didn't have anything to add. He hadn't been able to check the gossip mill, and while the fight would be a major topic of conversation, there wasn't much he could do with only four days of school left. Nor was there much Ebisu could do.

He had just pulled out his book to take a break when he heard the pounding of feet as students raced back from the cafeteria to get their stuff and head home. Knowing this meant that he had yet another PPT to attend, he mournfully put down his novel. The halls were already emptying as the English teacher turned the corner and meandered down to the guidance department. He paused at the main doors, however, when something caught his eye and ear. Kakashi leaned against the wall, glanced at his watch like he was waiting for someone, and pulled out his book.

Since it was a delightfully warm (okay, _hot_) day, both sets of double doors had been held open to try and coax in a breeze. As such, he could hear the rumble of the buses outside and the roar of students screaming with their freedom. But what was really holding his attention was right inside the double doors.

"I want you to understand a few things about this summer, young lady," came a wrinkled old voice.

"Yes, Granma." That was Temari's sullen tone.

"I won't have any of those boys of yours over at my house; do you understand? None. You have to call me whenever you get to where you're going, call me when you leave, and being late is inexcusable. You're becoming a wild child, and I'll not have that in any of my grandchildren. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Granma."

"You're passing all your classes?"

"Yes, Granma."

"You won't be seeing either of those awful teammates you had to endure."

"Yes, Granma."

"Your cell phone will have a limited number of minutes for each month. It should be enough for whenever you call me when you arrive or leave anywhere you go."

"Yes, Granma."

"And you're to tell me wherever you're going."

"Yes, Granma."

"And if I say no, you won't go."

"Yes, Granma."

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other. Tomorrow is your last final, correct?"

"Yes, Granma."

"Then that's your last day of school. You can wish your friends a good summer then."

"Yes, Granma."

"Now come along. I've got a proper lunch for you on the stove at home."

"Yes, Granma."

The rumble of the buses roared as they started to roll away from the school. Kakashi shut his book and looked up to the ceiling, absently noting that some of the ceiling tiles were missing. Temari's behavior over the school year now made more sense. She was seeking freedom wherever she could grab it. Since her grandmother never spoke with the school outside of when she argued against Temari's punishment for bullying Sakura, none of the teachers from fifth grade on up were able to figure out why she always acted out. However, the question remained on whether or not those restrictions placed on Temari just now were because of her behavior or if they were because her grandmother was just a strict old bat. If it was because of Temari's behavior, such as her harem that followed her and tried to do her every whim, then the old woman was right to start laying down restrictions. But Kakashi had a feeling that this was how she was all the time.

He sighed.

Kakashi heard his name paged, so he finished his initial wandering into the guidance conference room, pushing Temari from his mind as he dealt with the next student who needed his undivided attention.

* * *

Thursday went much quieter, since the second half of the half day was reserved for make up exams. After he kicked out the last student from his G Period, Kakashi went about grading, taking a break from time to time to start packing up his room. Supposedly, they'd be getting new floors over the summer, so all teachers had been asked to pack up their classrooms so that the workers could do what they needed. Since the students couldn't leave after their G Period exam, they had gathered in certain spots around the building according to grade, with teachers keeping an eye on them. Eighth grade gathered at the gym, seventh in the auditorium, etc.

Nobody showed up for the English teacher's make up exam, so, he went about his grading and packing in relative peace. It was half way through the period that he looked up from his grading to address Sasuke, who had quietly arrived and taken a seat on his couch.

"Shouldn't you be at the auditorium?"

"Hn."

Kakashi said nothing and went back to grading. Sasuke would talk when he was ready. He finished up with F Period, Sasuke's class, and turned to start entering grades into his computer, letting his tapping of keys almost echo in the room.

"I'm changing homes."

The Scarecrow stopped. Slowly, he swiveled his chair around and looked at the dark boy.

"Oh?"

"I won't be staying with Kabuto any more. He's needed for another kid that needs medical attention."

"I see."

"..."

"Do you know who your new foster parents are going to be?"

"Not yet. They'll be moving me in two weeks."

"Another upheaval."

"Aah."

They sat together as the automatic lights clicked off. "You've had a lot of sudden changes in your life this year."

"You think?"

"You believe all changes have been bad."

Sasuke glared at him. "Parents dying, Itachi beating my ass, stuck in a foster home with an ice cube, running from Itachi, watching him stab you. Gee, wonder why."

Kakashi countered. "Meeting Naruto and Sakura, going with Sakura and her family on vacation, getting Itachi out of your life, finding people you can trust and depend on. Yes, I wonder why."

Sasuke scowled.

Kakashi smiled impassively.

"So," the Scarecrow said, "do you _know_ that this move will be bad for you?"

"...No."

"But it could be?"

"... ...Yes."

"And you're scared of it?"

Glare.

"So scared isn't the word. The point is that you've finally found a balance for yourself. It may not be ideal, but you can remain relatively happy. Now that happiness is put in jeopardy. You're not sure what to do."

"Isn't this where you tell me to go to my team?"

"Really?" Kakashi grinned blithely. He sobered. "I'm not saying that foster care is perfect and that you'll end up with someone for you the way Yondaime is for Naruto. I went through a few really bad foster homes before I ended up with someone I could stay with. But remember, you have options. Kids in foster homes don't always realize that. Remember, I offered you the phone for DCF. You couldn't do that to your brother, and very few could. But you could probably do it more easily for a foster who doesn't take proper care of you. You may end up with another Kabuto who is just a being who shares your house, but you can find your balance again. If you're lucky, you could end up with a family that actually compliments you enough that you can be happy in your house.

"But remember, your home will always be with Naruto and Sakura. Both have worked really hard to make a home for you, and you won't ever lose it."

Sasuke smirked. "You preach too much, Kakashi-sensei."

"One does one's best."

At the end of the day, as the students raced back to their lockers to get ready to leave, Kakashi once more headed down for another PPT. As he weaved through the students, Kurenai appeared at his side.

"Kakashi," she said smiling. "Shino will be going to an entomology camp. He just spent last period talking to me about it. He's really very excited."

"That's good to know."

"He was concerned about Hinata and Kiba, though. He wants to make sure they're okay."

"Oh?" Kakashi grinned. "What did you tell him?"

Kurenai offered a small chuckled. "Something that sounded like you, I'm sure. I told him that Kiba has a home and things are looking up for him. Hinata doesn't have to worry about summer school or grades over vacation, so she'll be happy. I told him that they can always write one another and that camp wasn't for the entirety of vacation. They'd see each other again."

The Scarecrow reached out and put a hand on the science teacher's shoulder. "You're going to be just fine here."

"Of course," she retorted. "Didn't I say that at the beginning of the year?"

He laughed as the two of them entered the office. Kurenai went to check her mail while Kakashi cut through to guidance and its conference room.

"You're late!" Iruka and Naruto growled.

"Sorry, but I just realized that I'm going to have six weeks without students. What on earth am I going to do with myself?"

Yondaime laughed the same laugh as the Yellow Flash once more. Kakashi felt the familiar clenching in his abdomen, but ignored as usual, reminding himself that Yondaime and the Yellow Flash were not the same man.

"So," Yondaime chuckled, "what's my little brat looking at this summer?"

"Last year," Iruka started, "Naruto had to go to summer school for math, English and science; he only just barely squeaked by with history. _This_ year, however, is much different."

"Indeed," Kakashi agreed. "He's aced his final in English, --"

"I _did_? _Yes_!"

"-- has maintained a solid B in history and a C with Kurenai-sensei."

"But," Yondaime frowned, "we get to the math."

"Yes. Asuma-sensei is probably grading the final now, and Naruto's math skills have improved significantly.

"Unfortunately," Iruka sighed, "the gaps he's had in his math education over the years have been too much to overcome in just a year. He'll have to be in summer school."

Yondaime nodded.

"Normally, I teach summer school," Kakashi continued, "but someone else is this year, Yamato-sensei from the other team."

"What?" Naruto whined. "But Kakashi-sensei! I'd rather learn under you!"

He grinned. "Whatever makes you think I won't be visiting?"

"Sensei!" he replied indignantly.

Yondaime reached out and ruffled Naruto's blond hair. "And in other news, over the summer, the two of us will be going through an adoption procedure."

Kakashi blinked. Iruka sat up straighter.

"Oh?"

"Yup. We've been talking about it for a few weeks now. This little rascal's going to be all mine."

"Now I just need to get you a wife," Naruto muttered.

"Hey! We agreed my love life wasn't any of your concern!"

"Love life? _What_ love life? You've admitted you haven't been on a date in over five years! How's that a love life? And soaps don't count!"

"I've been busy! You know how work is! And what's wrong with watching soap operas anyway?"

"You're a _guy_ aren't you? And despite being so busy with work you still have time to raise me right! You need _something_ to come home to that's a little softer than me!"

"You little brat!"

"You old geezer!"

"Ahem." That was Kakashi. "We're very glad to hear the news. We'll leave you to your familial bickering now."

* * *

Friday, Kakashi was very unsurprised to see very, very few kids in his homeroom. Frankly, given that most of the student population had taken their finals when they were supposed to and not rearranged them, the attendance list should be a tally of who was _here_ and not a list of who was absent. The English teacher held his make up for the first exam of the day and all the students he was missing showed up. This was very good. It meant that at the end of the day, he could leave and be done. He could spend the second exam period grading and would have all his grades in before the weekend. Excellent.

But before he got grading, however, he needed to check in with his team. They had an awards ceremony next week, after all, and he needed the list of students getting awards so he could start making printouts. So he checked in with Gai (slipping out before the long-winded, flowery speech got into full swing) and Iruka (who just pointed to a sheet of paper on his desk before rushing out of the room for another PPT) and headed to Kurenai's corner science lab.

Inside he was rather surprised to see a pair of extra faces. Hinata was sitting on one of the science tables and Neji was standing beside her. At the teacher's table was Kurenai, smiling brightly. Kakashi knocked politely on the door.

"Kakashi-sensei," Hinata smiled.

"Sensei," Neji bowed his head.

"Yo. So how are you two doing?"

"Neji-nii-san has been far too kind."

Neji grunted.

"What brings the two of you here? I would have thought you both finished your finals yesterday."

"I did, but Hinata wanted to take the make up for her E Period class."

The exam that had been shortened due to the fight earlier that week.

"I see," he replied, smiling. "So now you're both waiting for the buses?"

"M-my parents aren't able to pull away from work today."

"Nor mine."

Kakashi nodded.

"Any plans for the summer?" Kurenai asked.

Hinata looked down.

"We normally tour museums and other educational facilities over the summer. However, Hinata and I have convinced our parents to get a cottage at the beach towards the end of August."

Oh it must have taken a lot for Hinata to suggest it. But Neji certainly fought for it.

"That's very good," Kurenai smiled.

"Yes," Kakashi grinned. "Shino's apparently been worried about you and Kiba for when he's off to camp."

"H-he has?" Hinata gave an embarrassed but gentle smile. "He needn't be."

"What about you, Kakashi-sensei. Why are you here?"

"Ever blunt I see. Well, for starters, Hinata, I'd like to reassure you that you've passed my class with an eighty. All your hard work has paid off. But more importantly..." he turned to the science teacher, "I need the award listings for next week."

"Oh drat. I haven't finished it. I'll drop by at the end of the day."

Kakashi nodded, smiled at the two Hyuga children, and went off to get Asuma's list.

In Asuma's room, he found another unexpected face.

"Ino."

"Scarecrow-sensei."

"I'm guessing that you wanted the E Period make-up today?"

"Yes," she replied, her chin resting delicately in her hand. "Were you looking for me?"

Kakashi ignored the tone in that last line and turned to Sudoku-sama. "Do you have the award list for next week?"

"Yup. Right here." Asuma's fingers flashed. "_See me later. You'll get a laugh out of this._"

"Thanks. I'll drop by during lunch if I find any discrepancies."

"You do that."

Once out the door, Kakashi couldn't help but grin to himself. He was looking forward to whatever it was that Asuma had to say. However, before he got to his room, the English teacher was interrupted yet again.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

He turned, rather surprised. "Lee?"

"Kakashi-sensei! I wish to say several things, since next year I will be at the high school and unlikely to see you ever again!"

Kakashi blinked. "Oh?"

"Yes! I wish to apologize for my disrespectful behavior when I was engaging the Uchiha in discussion."

More like battle.

"I also wish to apologize for any worry or headaches I may have caused you in my quest to discover myself while I was under your team's care."

That was one way to put it.

"Finally, I wish to apologize for thinking that you were a crusty old man who could never compare to the great Gai-sensei!"

... Huh?

"I also wish to say that I will miss your lessons up at the high school, for I hear that all they have you do is practice for state testing. You, at least, allowed us free expression, even if I never knew what I wanted to express!"

Oh, Lee knew what he wanted to express just fine last year.

"So, Kakashi-sensei, I wish to show my everlasting Youth by giving you an embrace and bidding you farewell!"

Kakashi sidestepped very quickly. "Why don't we just shake hands?" he offered.

"Of course! Kakashi-sensei!"

Lee's handshake was crushing and quick, but once he was done, he raced across the hall into Gai's room.

The English teacher chuckled to himself and went back to work.

Later, after the students had disappeared into lunch, Kakashi wandered into Asuma's room, curious on what the math teacher had to share. He was rather surprised (that seemed to be a running theme that day) to see Asuma laughing to himself.

"This ought to be good," the Scarecrow commented, sinking into the seat he usual sat at for Team Time.

"Oh it is." Asuma leaned back. "You know how Ino's been going out with a different guy every week?"

"Yes. To get Sasuke's attention."

"That's not the case any more."

Kakashi raised a hidden eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

"Well, it seems that Shikamaru's washed his hands of her. He found her in a heavy lip-lock with Yasamichi, one of the eighth graders and finally told her off."

Kakashi couldn't help but grin. Lazy Shikamaru had finally been pushed too far.

"Well, it seems that he pulled her aside and proceeded to lecture her so thoroughly, she was sure that she was deliberately going out with guys to hurt herself by becoming an object, something to be used, etc. He even yelled at her about STDs. Then, after she fled in tears, he told her parents about everything she's been doing."

"You're right," Kakashi agreed. "This _is_ good."

"Oh, it gets better. You've met her mother right? Well, apparently she's grounded for the rest of the summer and forbidden from seeing any of her friends outside of her own home with her parents supervising."

"Not the best of punishments, but it might work on Ino."

"But you see," Asuma sobered briefly, "they were banning certain students from coming over and one of them was Chouji."

"Oh, no."

"Well, it seems that our little blonde socialite has become rather fond of her plump teammate. She went nuclear on her parents for that and then called Shikamaru to get some sort of backup on it."

"_Really_? How out of character for her. This year she's only been tolerating her team."

"According to her, she actually likes them a lot. Never had any friends that got so close before, not even Sakura, so she didn't really know how to act. After Shikamaru's explosion, she's gotten a clue. It's taken a lot of work, but both Shikamaru and Chouji are going to be welcome at Ino's house any time. Anyone else gets watched by Ino's parents.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. "It looks like she finally bought into the team idea doesn't it?"

"Indeed. Seeing Sasuke with Sakura all year is probably the only thing that really got in Ino's way. But I think she's going to be alright."

"Good."

Kakashi left not long after that, with nothing but the lightest of feelings for the weekend.

* * *

**Author's Note:** (Mirror passes out...) Okay, we've checked in with ALL the Naruto kids, tied up various loose ends, set up their immediate futures, etc. That was a LOT of work. Next week is nice and epilogue-y and (we hope) will be a whole lot of fun. For those curious about the talk during Kiba's PPT about "exiting", it's about letting a student out of the special education program, that they need no more special services because they can handle themselves on their own. This doesn't usually happen, but it's not uncommon. Let's see, Kankuro and Temari's attitude problems have been explained, everyone else is doing well and looking to a good summer. As usual, several will end up in summer school, but all schools have summer school.

**InoShikaCho**: Hope you liked everything going on with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji in this chapter. Actually the feild idea came from a high school we used to substitute at. It was a sacred tradition that was Not to be Messed With. The fieldtrip came from a middle school that Mirror has applied to (no rejection letter yet, so we're crossing our fingers that one of us is gainfully employed next year, but we're not counting on it. They're looking for many years of experience...) Sorry about all the Team 7 stuff, but come on, who else would hang out with Kakashi? Aside from Iruka, that is. We rather think you'll enjoy next week as well.

**Jill Bioskop**: Hehe, I was totally embarrassed and cried the way home, but looking back, all the teachers were probably worried sick on where I had wandered off to, so I just kinda laugh at it now. I just wish someone would have let me explain that I was trying to be early. Meh. Yes, we loved the kareoke. We wish you the best of luck on your finals as well.

**Sarimia**: Yes, Micah is a cool name. We're glad you enjoyed the fluff of last chapter. If you liked that, wait until next week.

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Of course. Can you even imagine Gai singing, sub or dub? We'd be hiding under a bed for that. Hehehe.

**FuyuNeko**: Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for the link, we'll be checking it out this summer when we have more time. It's greatly appreciated.

**Adele19**: So glad you liked. Hope this chapter was just as enjoyable, and we're sure you'll leve next week.

**SpiderWench**: Western Massachusettes is actually VERY rural. The state isn't defined by just Boston, there's Cape Cod, the Berkshires, mountains, lakes, rivers, and lots of forestry. We're glad you had such fun. It seems all the characters did too. No, no sequals in mind. Kakashi would have to "graduate" with them to the eigth grade and then he wouldn't have his team any more. He'd be away from his darling Iruka.

**Bibliophilist**: It doesseem like Gai to have hula-hoops, doesn't it. We have visions of him using them as improvised tires in order to train the cross country/track team. As for Sasuke with Kakashi, we personally think that if Sasuke hadn't defected to the Snake, Kakashi would be the best person to train him while Naruto went with Jiraiya and Sakura went with Tsunade. Hehe, if kids really did get caught ina ride, the attendants of the park would take care of it, realistically speaking. No need for Iruka to get involved. It's nice to know so many Kaka/Iru fans are enjoying this, even if there's nothing obvious about their relationship. Good luck on your finals as well.

**Cami-of-the-Sky**: We're glad you liked. Glad to have cheered you up. Don't worry about this being the end. We have other Naruto stories and are working on more.

**Af**: Hehe. Hopefully our stories will alleviate some of your boredom. We're not big on roller coasters either, so we could relate quite well with Sakura.

**Ryu-Earth**: Hopefully any pressure you've felt at home hasn't lead to any destructive methods to escape stress like poor Hinata-chan had to go through. o.0 We also hope your finals are going well. It's always good to read such positive reviews. It means we're doing something right. As for who was missing in the park, that was a student from the other team, thus they don't have to be identified. As for why Iruka was upset? A multitude of reasons. Students were told to be on time so that the buses could get them back on time, the student was holding them up, the student didn't stay with an adult, the student could have gotten hurt, the student could have been abducted by a pervert, the tudent could have... Ahem. All that worry leads to a rather explosive adult. Especially Iruka.

**AnzuRose**: Welcome to our edu-tainment story, new reviewer! It's good to know we entranced you so. We're sorry for your loss. We almost lost our mom this year, and we wouldn't wish that on anyone. As advice on teaching, the reward of students who get it is extreme, but be prepared for a lot of frustration. As Kakashi has done in this fic, be prepared to had out detentions and send students out of the room if they're disruptive to the learning environment. When you love kids, that can sometimes be hard to get used to, so be prepared for that. Also, in this little edu-tainment fic, you've seen some of the downsides of teaching, such as Gai's arc, Asuma's arc, or some of what they've had to deal with from both parents and administration. Teaching is a wonderful field, and we're not trying to dissuade, we're just trying to avoid the picture that it's all sunshine-and-flowers. There will be hardships on your students, and it may be a few years before you start to see some of the positive results that Kakashi can get in this story. But those results can be oh-so-worth the work getting there. We truely wish you the best if you do decide to be a teacher. Oh yes, these stories are real unless stated otherwise. They're not all from one school system, since we've been at so many, but this is a sampling of what lower-income schools can go through. If you want to help them like we do, make sure they know the boundries and they'll love you. You'll get more of an outpouring than you might from an upper-class school system. This isn't to say that upper-class schools don't have their failings, but those kids can at least survive. We are humbled very much by your review, and appreciate it greatly. We hope our experience and advice can be of use to you. Teaching, like any career, is one you ned to put your whole heart into.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: We prefer some of our local amusement parks that you probably haven't heard of one. There's even one down by the shoreline that has the oldest functioning merry-go-round in the country (if not the world...) Yes, grinning can greatly improve outlooks if you do it long enough. Never had chocolate pie. Always prefered apple. We've never been fans of roller coasters. Thank you for the compliments, as always.

Good luck to all having finals and thank you for your reviews and reading. Next week, the Last Day.


	37. Week 36

****

June: Week Thirty-Seven

* * *

The last day of school.

It was always such a milestone. After ten months of wandering in and out of the halls, in and out of his room, in and out of the student body, Kakashi, no matter how many years he did this, couldn't quite believe he'd reached the end of the year.

Classes were reduced to fifteen minutes each, for students to do their last minute socializing; say their goodbyes (or good riddance's) and share summer plans and the like. After that the grades piled into their respective corners for awards ceremonies. They had tried the entire school on occasion, but never with any success, so the grades were separated out. This year the seventh grade was cycled to the auditorium, and as the other team poured the students in and got them seated, Kakashi's team stood around on the stage, going over last minute details. Kakashi himself was waiting in the wings. They'd all agreed that he would arrive "late" like he always did.

Finally, everyone was seated. The other team went first, the team leader saying a few words before listing off her awards and their recipient(s). The grade politely clapped and less than politely cheered and whistles as various students Kakashi only vaguely recognized walked up onto the stage, shaking hands with each of the teachers before taking a certificate and a handshake from the team leader. After perhaps a half hour of this, it was Kakashi's turn, so he waited in the wings.

Asuma went up to the podium, adjusting the mike. "Yeah, we'll get started as soon as Kakashi-sensei shows up," he said lightly.

The auditorium giggled slightly at the joke, and while his team made various annoyed looks, check their watches, and pretended to wait, Kakashi gauged the audience. When they were just beginning to loose interest in waiting, he pulled out his book and flipped it open to a page, meandering on stage.

There was an enormous cry of "YOU'RE LATE!!"

Then, just to be precocious, he held up a hand. Making his way to the podium, he spoke to the mike, "Hang on, I'm at the best part." When he felt like it, he closed his book with a thud and put it back in his pocket. "Yo," he said, waving to the crowd. "Sorry I'm late, I found myself thinking about girls in sailor uniforms proclaiming love and justice and saving the world with ludicrous attack cries like--"

"LIAR!!" the audience shouted.

Kakashi, straight faced, shrugged and said, "If you say so."

The crowd laughed.

"Well then," the Scarecrow said, "Now that the formalities are taken care of, let's get started. This is an award ceremony. The other team has done their part, and now it's my turn. But before I say anything, I would like to make this announcement: You made this hard." He paused, giving the grade a moment to absorb his words. "The students in my team, you guys, you made it very hard to differentiate who would get one award over the other. It's a very rare grade indeed that has the teachers fighting over awards. So, that said, let's get the mundane ones out of the way."

There were a lot of grade-based awards: highest quarter grade award per subject, highest semester grade per subject, etc.

"And now the fun ones," Kakashi said lightly. "We'll start with the achievement awards. Each subject looks out across their classes and determines who among you represents that subject, who produces the best work, who shines in that subject. You know," he added, "our favorite students." The crowd giggled slightly. "Okay then, for science, we have a student that not everybody sees, but does her hardest nonetheless. She's a student who can often be seen in Kurenai-sensei's room after school, textbook open and pouring over her notebook. The Science Achievement Award goes to... Hyuga Hinata."

The grey-eyed girl, hidden deep inside the audience, was absolutely still with shock. Kiba, next to her, was howling at the top of his lungs and slapping her shoulder, urging her to get up.

Kurenai broke all protocol and gave her a large hug when she finally arrived on stage. She made her way through the line of teacher and shook Kakashi's hand as he handed her the certificate.

"Next up," he said, going back to the mike, "is the Math Achievement Award. I'm sure this student is going to find it very 'troublesome.'" Several students realized who it was and made the appropriate noise, but Kakashi pressed on. "But, he moved on to eighth grade math and spent most of his SSR in Asuma-sensei's room, sharpening his skills playing go and shogi. The Math Achievement Award goes to... Nara Shikamaru."

Said boy got up and trudged to the stage, a dour scowl on his face. He gave the quickest of handshakes as he went up to Kakashi. "You're right," he said, "This is too troublesome."

"Careful," Kakashi replied. "The mike is on."

He scowled and went back to his seat.

"Social Studies was a tough call. We know how you all love Gai-sensei so much," Kakashi said. The audience laughed, because Gai was unanimously considered the strange teacher (and next to Kakashi, that was quite a feat) and several had a hard time taking him seriously. "But, there was one student who was always first to take part in a debate, quick to go first for a presentation, and always had her hand raised. The Social Studies Achievement Award goes to... Yamanaka Ino."

The grade erupted into applause, the popular girl already putting on a bright smile as she waved to everyone as she went up to the stage, laughing and blowing kisses like she was a politician. Her mask didn't slip in the slightest when she took the certificate from Kakashi, but she was audacious enough to step in front of the mike and shout a, "Thanks, everyone!" before taking her seat.

"Next of course is the English Achievement Award," Kakashi said. He leaned onto the podium and put his chin in his fist. "I had a hard time," he drawled. "The volume of good work I had this year was so large I was overwhelmed. In fact, this was the first time I had a tie." The crowd immediately started whispering, wondering whom it was. "It's a set of three - though that's no surprise. They came together and bonded quickly at the beginning of the year, and they have continually blown me over with the quality of work that they produce. It's of high school quality, and I've seen them perform monumental feats over the course of the year, both academically and personally. The English Achievement Award goes to... F Period Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Three said students had been, apparently, sitting together, because Kakashi saw all three of them stand as one. Sakura and Naruto were jumping up and down, the latter screeching to the top of his lungs. Sasuke tried to look cool about it, but there was a rather large grin on his face. Naruto was hopping up and down on the stage, shaking the other teacher's hands quickly before virtually pouncing on Kakashi. "We did it! We did it!!" he was shouting. "This is so cool!" Sakura soon followed, hugging the English teacher. Sasuke just inclined his head and took the certificate.

"That's one of the best reactions I've seen," he said to the mike. "Next up are the more specialized awards, first of which are two awards for the students who've turned around and improved themselves over the course of the year. For Most Improved in One Subject, the Award goes to Inuzuka Kiba."

Said boy, perhaps determined to outdo Naruto in volume, could be heard across the auditorium. He jumped a few times before delicately stepping over Hinata and leapt onto the stage to receive his award.

"Next is Most Improved in All Subjects. This particular student, I'm told, had failed several of his subjects last year. He's gone on to get an A in my class and improved by entire letters in other subjects; and I'm sure he'll be very loud when he hears his name. Most Improved in All Subjects goes to... Uzumaki Naruto."

The boy, if possible, was even louder than Kiba, running up to the stage and again jumping up and down as he shook hands with the teachers. Like Ino, he grabbed the mike, "Take that, Kiba!" he shouted.

"You mangy mutt!" the boy growled in the crowd. "I'll get you next year!!"

"Fat chance, dog boy!" And Naruto leapt off the stage.

"The next award is one of mine," Kakashi said after he meticulously checked his microphone for damage. "It's the Voracious Reader Award. You all probably already know who it is, he's always seen with a book in his hands, even if he's working with his team or doing another assignment. Whenever there's a free minute in class, he'll open the book up and snag a few paragraphs before getting back to work. He's also probably the only student here who knows what voracious means. The Voracious Reader Award goes to... Aburame Shino."

The boy got up quietly through the applause and stoically took his certificate.

"Next up is an award for a student who always speaks her mind, always expresses and opinion, and occasionally manages to stay on topic," he added with a wry grin. "Most Vocal Student Award goes to... Yamanaka Ino."

The seventh grade erupted again, and the girl took even longer to wave and smile and kiss at her fans as she made her way to the stage. She tried to take the microphone again, but Kakashi smartly put it behind his back, making the grade laugh as she made a few grabs for it. The huff lasted for a fraction of a second before the bright smile reappeared, and she went back to her seat.

"Now we hit the 'Most' awards," Kakashi said. "Having said that, the first award doesn't have 'most' in the title. It's the Good Citizenship Award, going to the student who has gone above and beyond - not in any measurable feat like grades or homework or teamwork, but in something more intangible: the ability to repeatedly do the right thing. This student has stood up for people, protected people, returned things to their rightful owners, and is always there to help people. I've used him myself several times over the course of the year, as have other teachers. The Good Citizenship Award goes to... Uzumaki Naruto."

Team 7 jumped up, Sakura clapping and screaming while Sasuke just clapped. Naruto was wide eyed at first, having clearly not expected to hear his name again. But as Sasuke was tugging him out to the aisle, it dawned on him what was happening, and the largest grin Kakashi had ever seen spread across his face. He was actually gracious as he shook hands and accepted the award. The demure attitude didn't last long, however, as he gave a shriek of a cheer as he leapt off the stage yet again and ran back to his seat.

"Next award doesn't have 'most' in its title, either, but it is perhaps the most important award to give. Hardest Worker is an award that goes to students that always put their best foot forward, that are always trying. They might never get the good grades, they might never get the high honors, but we recognize them. Hardest Worker Award goes to... Hyuga Hinata."

The girl was positively trembling. Kiba had to help her up to the stage, Hinata looked ready to faint. She very nearly did when she realized that Sakura and (more specifically) Naruto were cheering her on, congratulating her and shouting how great she was to the top of their lungs. Even Shino was standing up, clapping his hands above his head for her. She mumbled an inaudible "Thank you," as she shook Kakashi's hand and accepted the certificate.

"Outside of the intangibles, of course, we also have to praise students who shine as students, kids who excel academically across all fields because they love to learn. These are the students who love asking questions, pursue deeper knowledge, and are a joy to teach. This year's Most Enthusiastic Learner Award goes to... Haruno Sakura."

Kakashi waited until the girl, smiling brightly, had just taken her seat before she continued, "Another joy to teach is the Most Conscientious Student. This is the student who looks out for their teammates. She'll loan out a spare pencil, or dig out an eraser or piece of paper. This is the student who will bravely point out a math mistake on the board, or tentatively ask for an extension when she notices that none of the students are going to make the deadline. Most Conscientious Student Award goes to... again, Haruno Sakura."

The girl had obviously just gotten comfortable, and Kakashi enjoyed the slightly perturbed look on her face as it tried to blend in with her happy glow as she came up to the stage.

"Along with being an Enthusiastic Learner or a Conscientious Student, we also have the Most Thoughtful Student Award." Kakashi watched as Sakura frowned, trying to determine if she should get comfortable or not. "The student we picked for this year isn't who you'd normally think; he's too busy being 'cool' to let his thoughtfulness show. But we teachers saw it, and so the Most Thoughtful Student Award goes to... Uchiha Sasuke."

The girls erupted into screams and swoons, and the boy looked wholly annoyed by the attention. But that didn't stop a small smile as he looked to Sakura and Naruto, and a respectful nod of his head to Kakashi when he was up on the stage to accept the award. Kakashi covered the mike and whispered, "You deserve it." The smile grew before he controlled his features again, and Sasuke took his seat.

"Next up is an award we initiated just last year. We weren't sure if anyone would make it this year, but we're happy to say that somebody's disposition did improve. For the student who improved his attitude, the Most Improved Disposition Award goes to... Akimichi Chouji."

This was another boy who didn't expect an award. There was a spray of potato chips as the boy immediately spit out his snack of choice. Shikamaru, sitting with him, had a sly grin on his face as the boy stood up, shocked, and stumbled his way through the seats and down the aisle. He still wore a look of wonder as he shook hands with the teachers and accepted the award.

"Another 'Most' award goes to the student who sticks his neck out for his friends, who goes to the matt for them - sometimes literally - who sticks up for his friends no matter what. So the Most Loyal Award goes to... Inuzuka Kiba."

The boy was howling again, jumping up and down after Hinata hugged him, and he ran up to the stage before tripping spectacularly on the stairs. He recovered quickly however, and leapt back to his feet to shake hands again. When he got to Kakashi he took the microphone. "And you thought there'd be no comedy!" he cried out to the seventh grade, and everyone laughed.

"A new award," Kakashi said, "that we started this year is the Most Democratic Award. This goes to the student who is great for diffusing conflict, for speaking out on behalf of certain students to prevent fights, or stepping in and stopping a fight himself. Most Democratic Award goes to... Aburame Shino."

The boy was still stoic, but Kiba and even the ever-shy Hinata made up for it by standing up and clapping, Kiba again shouting.

"The last 'Most' award doesn't have a 'most' in it, but it's the award that goes to the student who, after the course of a school year as grueling as this one has been, can still remain positive. The Best Attitude Award goes to - and I'm sorry you have to get up again... Haruno Sakura."

Team 7 was cheering again. Sakura, with her handful of awards that she'd received, walked quickly up to the stage, glowing with happiness. Before she left, Asuma was able to grab her as Kakashi started to speak again. "The last two awards don't really need any explanation," he was saying. "They go to the Valedictorian and the Saledictorian, the two top students of the grade. So please, give a round of applause to Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

It was obvious whom the crowd was cheering for. The girls' voices were ear splitting as Sasuke, annoyed, stepped up onto the stage to receive his certificate with Sakura. She wasn't being booed exactly, but certain glares from certain students could not be overlooked. But it was the last day of school, and even something like this could not ruin the positive mood of the students.

"Would everyone who received an award come up on stage, so we can all give a round of applause?"

The stage became very crowded very quickly, almost thirty students across two teams trying to be in front. Everyone was waving and cheering and screaming and clapping. Kakashi hadn't felt this good in months. He let the moment hang for as long as he dared, soaking up the positive feelings and letting the students shine. But finally, he waved his hands to get their attention.

"Well, now that we're all hoarse," he said. "I think it's time we got some ice cream at the cafeteria."

The student body whole-heartedly agreed, and they piled out of the auditorium and into the cafeteria, where the rest of the school was gathering, piecemeal, for the ice cream social. Flavors of all kinds were available, and once Kakashi got his vanilla cup with chocolate syrup and sprinkles, he wandered over to Gai and Iruka who were by the doors.

"Aren't you hoarse?" Iruka asked, licking his cone.

"I could have gone on longer," Kakashi said, flipping open his book. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Just about noon, the buses will be here in half an hour," the special education teacher explained.

"Not a bad day," the Scarecrow observed.

"Indeed no! These youths have shown energy of the highest caliber, this day!"

"That's because it's the last day of school," the ever-cynical Iruka said.

They watched the students eat their ice cream, and it wasn't long before Kakashi spied and interesting group making their way to all the teachers. "Isn't that about half my F period?" he asked.

Indeed, it was. Teams 7, 8, and 10 were making their way to the trio, having finished their ice cream and still clutching their awards. "Sensei!" Naruto said, racing ahead and getting to the trio first. "Sensei, it was my idea!"

"Shut up Naruto!" Ino said. Her eyes were still wary of Kakashi, but she kept a demure smile. "We all got together and decided that you teachers need awards, too," she tried again.

Gai was already moved to tears.

"For Most Helpful Teacher," Sakura said, "Iruka-sensei!" Kiba came forward and handed the special education teacher a construction paper award, covered in glitter and star stickers. "For Most Energetic Teacher: Gai-sensei!"

"Alas! I am moved! Words cannot express the gratitude that compels me to shed tears of happiness! I am speechless!"

Kakashi bit back the half-dozen retorts that came to mind, simply because he didn't want to ruin Gai's moment as Chouji gave the Green Beast his award.

"And Most Conscientious Teacher: Kakashi-sensei!!" Hinata held out the construction paper masterpiece and Kakashi took it gratefully, admiring the glittery letters and the cutout stars and tissue paper flowers. He smiled amply.

"Thank you," he said simply.

It wasn't long afterward that Shizune made the announcement. "Please excuse the interruption. The buses are here. Students please get on your buses."

It was, perhaps, the best tradition the school had. The students piled outside and onto the buses, and the teachers followed suit, trailing out to the grounds and crowding together along with the principal, vice principal, the secretaries, etc. Every adult in the building crowded together. Asuma and Kurenai appeared from somewhere, holding their Most Awesome Room and Nicest Teacher awards respectively. The kids were still shouting back and forth at each other, clamoring to get a decent section of the windows facing the teachers, lowering them and sticking their hands out to wave.

The buses started, and as one the teachers raised their hands, waving goodbye to the students as they disappeared for another summer, waving goodbye to the memories, good and bad, as the summer buffer began and they would start the year anew. The students waved back, some offering the "finger" salute and some mooning the faculty, but most of them just waved, shouting "Goodbye!" and "We'll miss you!" and "See you next year!"

The faculty followed the buses a little bit, trailing after the giant wheels as they pulled out of the school and onto the roads. The walking students were still waving, some kept looking back every few feet until they turned to a new street or crested a hill, and still the faculty kept waving, until there was no one left to wave to.

Kakashi took a deep breath, the warm summer air filling his lungs, filled with the scent of ice cream and trees.

"It was a good year," he said to no one in particular.

**The End**

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**Author's Notes**: And that's it. Wow, it's finally done. What a feeling of accompishment. After almost a year of writing, this (not-so) little edu-tainment story is done. Yowza. Looking back over it, we still enjoy rereading many of the story arcs we have, especially in the second half of the year. Bloody April is always a treat to read through, Chouji's arc, Gai's arc (thought that still brings tears to our eyes), and many others. Hell, we enjoy reading this from start to finish from time to time.

This thing started off as a challenge, one Saturday night last summer when we were discussing High School fics, how awful they were in portrayal of teachers, how they never get the whole school-atmosphere right, how the stories always follow the same line with bullying and drama-trauma-drama with a heavy dose of romance mixed in. One of us (we don't remember who) postulated that maybe we should do one, since, being teachers, we'd actually be able to get something done right. Nartuo was about the only show that had a large enough cast of both adults and students, and thus, Team Time was born. It's absolutely SHOCKING how easily everything came together and fell into place. The "stereotypical" characters of school were easily distributed to the Naruto cast, with Ino and Temari as the socialites, Hinata as the struggling student, Naruto having ADHD, Sakura would be bullied (the realistic way, not the dramatized fictional way), etc. The more we discussed, the more we realized that we could use this little fic to explain how schools REALLY could be, instead of the geeks-v-jocks or click-picking-on-misunderstood that just DOESN'T happen that way. We discussed a lot of our work in urban schools and the issues they face. It's amazing how in high school fics nobody has any disabilities. Everyone is either popular or a complete outcast. Teachers only throw students together randomly for plot purposes for no good reason, or worse, never notice what's going on right under their noses. The more we talked, the more we thought we could teach through this story about what some people have to face. Kiba working in a kennel and being homeless, Chouji with a drug problem (given his abject fear of the chakra pills), Sasuke being abused by Itachi, Naruto in the foster system.

Everything just... WORKED.

So last year, around this time, we started writing. Amazed how stories we've heard and experienced fit in so neatly. We finished last Thanksgiving. And what a stunning SHOCK reviewer response has been. We're authors who don't get many reviews. In our normal fandom of Ronin Warriors, we're well known, but not well reviewed. As such, we weren't really expecting much with this story. We expected the usual "gr8t, upd8 soon, luv it". We couldn't guage how readers would take this. It's a middle school fic, not a high school fic. We stated in the very first chapter that we wouldn't be doing any outright coupling because we didn't want to isolate any fans. That's what readers want, right? A high school fic with a romance developing between their One True Pairing. We weren't doing that at all, so we didn't think we'd get that much in the way of reviews.

But the number of people who were able to RELATE to certain arcs, who were AFFECTED by what we wrote, and kept coming back each chapter to review. 0.o We're amazed. We continue to be amazed. We got long and thoughtful reviews. We NEVER get long and thoughtful reviews... And the numbers! We're averaging around 10-15 reviews a chapter in the last part of the year. We mean WOW! You readers AND reviewers are FANTASTIC. We've seemed to even convince a few of you to go into teaching. ...WOW!

...

Ultimately, this story is a teaching tool. A chance for you, as readers and writers, to see how a school system actually works. Most people have the "Motel 6" experience. If you've graduated, you must know everything. We hope this opened your eyes a bit. Teachers are exteremely busy people beyond just grading and lesson plans. You notice how Kakashi was in charge of three different after-school clubs? Student Council, Homework Club, and the Book Club. Some teachers, like Gai, are coaches. There are also comittees for any changes that might be being discussed, such as curriculum, scheduling, meeting NCLB standards, etc. To say nothing of the meetings, phone calls, and emails with parents. It's no wonder teachers are usually at school loooong after that final bell has rung. We've put in a lot through Kakashi's point of view on what a teacher's job is like and we hope some of you potential writers have learned from it.

Similarly, we've done a lot for school culture. School Spirit Week, holidays, projects, dances (on a rare occasion), and how rumors spread. Schools do have clicks, and there are disagreements between students, but it's not the outright physical itimidation that movies and TV shows glorify. It's a lot subtler. Students fight back in their own way, even when bullied. It's very, very rare that someone does nothing and follows the mantra of ignoring. It isn't unheard of, but most bullying is like what happened to Sakura. Issues outside of school affects students while in school. Sasuke's attitude stunk when he was living with Itachi, and usually reverted after an encounter with his big brother. Students can be scarred, but in poor districts, they find ways to deal and can still come out relatively healthy, though there will be triggers to any issues that they have. The way we have Sasuke in this story, he will probably view almost any change negatively for the rest of his life and see things pessimistically until he's had time to adjust to it. Hinata will always have those scars on her wrists, and while she wasn't suicidal and she will turn around nicely, she's going to have trouble maintaining self-esteem if anything completely undermines her, such as, say, losing a job. These kids will be scarred, but they'll survive.

Taking a final look back to this 36-chapter monster, there are some arcs we didn't cover very well. Kiba's being diabetic for example (after our mother's time in the hospital, we realize that we did things far too quickly), or Chouji's drug arc (we've never actually witnessed or heard a story. A lot of it was educated guess work), or other little things. But overall, the story stands up very well.

This was our teaching tool. Now it's time for YOU as writers, to test yourself.

* * *

**TheBlackRoseofKonoha**: Even though it's over, we're glad you've enjoyed so much.

**InoShikaCho**: See? They all got awards! Yay! We're glad you liked so much. Of course, we're probably the ONLY middle-school based fic out there, but we're still so happy you enjoyed.

**Adele19**: Glad you liked Naruto and Yondaime. We're rather fond of those two ourselves.

**Abibliophobia**: This story is a conglomeration of stories from several different school systems, some poor, some middle-class, and even one upper-middle-class. An inner city school would certainly have a large number of problems over the course of the year, but as much as this story? Probably not on such a grand scale. It depends on the school system. For inner-city, there would be homelessness issues like with Kiba, but those kids usually drop out of school for a while. Drugs would also keep students skipping, and there are more violent concerns that would be outside of school but still affect the population, such as a neighborhood shooting. Fights in the halls (as in fisticuffs, not arguing) might occur twice, maybe three times in a year on school grounds in the worst case. Off school grounds, however, might be more regular. What makes inner-city schools so rough on teachers is the behavior in the classroom. Imagine the biggest jerk you've ever known, disrespectful, foul-mouthed, and in your face. Now but about thirty of them in a classroom (assuming they all show up). Granted, inner-city schools TRY to do things like make smaller class-sizes, have a strong support system, etc. New York City has set up a bunch of magnet schools to try and break down the overpopulation of some of its schools, for example. It really depends on the district. This school year for Team Time, was certainly one for the record books, but for all of it to happen to one team over one year? Not very realistic. (So much for all our talk of realism, ne?) Sorry our answer isn't that clear.

**Ryu Earth**: Gai's official letter from DCF stating that he was cleared of all charges, won't come until the beginning of the following school year at the latest. It WAS cleared up when the DCF officer came in and nobody could say that they saw Gai strike the student, but the offical "okay" won't come for several months. Believe us, we know. We're glad you thought last week was cute.

**Sarimia**: Yes, the couch. We had a professor in college and a teacher in high school who had couches. They were a must that students fought over (at least in high school. In college, it was in the professor's office...) and very comfy. Especially such an inviting couch as the one Kakshi must have.

**Vixkill**: Oh, you're from Australia? Wow, between you and the Canadian cluster we have, this story has taken the WORLD by storm. 0.o' Hopefully your worries of Hinata have been put to rest, she's doing just fine.

**ExplosiveNoteNinja**: Nope, we don't live in Rhode Island. We visited once, and got horribly lost with all the One-Way streets. Yes, Chouji will do quite well in summer school with Shikamaru and Ino tutoring him. To say nothing of the promise of a family vacation with the Nara family. Have fun.

**Bibliophilist**: Good question. Hmmmm, depending on how he does his coaching, he might be training the cross country team (when are their seasons anyway?) Either way, he'd be out training his muscles to keep up with his YOUTHFUL students, no doubt. Asuma might spend some time with his dad and nephew, maybe try and meet Kurenai over break (wink, wink, nod nod) Him fishing does sound good. Or bumming around his appartment with a cigarette. Kurenai would spend the summer locked in a room making lessons plans. She spent this year flying by the seat of her skirt and she's the type who'd probably want to be better prepared for the following year. Curriculum, after all, takes FOREVER to plan. Iruka's a hard one to figure out, though. Since the whole team are friends outside of the building, he'd probably try and make a few get-togethers for them. Beyond that, he's a normal guy. What do normal guys do? Hopefully the awards were "Big" enough for you. Yes, we're both substitutes looking for more permanent employement. We're also both certified for 7-12 mathmatics teaching.

**SpiderWench**: (Kakashi and Iruka appear before SpiderWench. Both are in a loving embrace, Iruka's mussed hair hiding Kakashi's unmasked face.) You get the award of most dedicated reviewer, having been with us since WAAAY back in chapter one and inspiring Hinata's arc back in Bloody April. (Iruka reaches up with a free hand and pulls off Kakashi's _hitae-ate_ as the Scarecrow pulls him closer.) Points up to review to **Bibliophilist**. We teach math, 7-12, and are currently subbing while searching more steady work.

**Sillymail**: A new reviewer, right at the end. We humbly thank you for your kind words.

**Jill Bioskop**: Yes, poor Kankuro. At least his attitude problem makes a bit of sense though. Yes, having your own space is precious and I'm sure Kiba's family has been wanting that very badly. Hopefully they'll keep it, but as long as Kiba's dad doesn't lose his job again, things should go fine. Yes, Shikamaru, to avoid the "troublesome" summer school, will pass Social Studies without a problem. And Iruka The Coat Rack is indeed, something to chuckle at. About drugs, it rather depends on what Chouji got hooked on. His parents will definitely keep an eye on him to avoid this from happening again, but if Chouji ever feels overly stressed out with nowhere to go, he might go to using again. But seeing as how Shikamaru and Ino are in his corner, I don't think that will happen. Orochimaru's a bastard, what do you expect? Yes, Temari is a rather free-spirited sort. Some people need rules while other have to learn on their own. Yes, Sasuke's a little doll, isn't he? Naruto? And Yondaime? Comfortable around each other? Naaaaaah. Best Kareoke singers? DARN! We shoulda thought of that! Actually some museums can be kinda fun depending on the exhibits. The Hyuuga, however, just might scorn those. But not any more. We love your look into how Neji would fight for some Sun and Fun with Surf and Turf. That sounds suspiciously like pree-teen logic, and it's absolutely hilarious. We loved your line about Neji grunting-with-eloquence. That made us grin. Yes, Shikamaru was worried, but he always says he's an old-man-stuck-in-a-kid's-body, so that arguement rather worked well for him.

We're so glad everyone enjoyed our story. Have a great summer everyone. We have other stories in the works, so check back from time to time.

Thanks to you all!!


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